[Joe Priestley writes about the British National Party’s Red White and Blue festival.]
By Joe Priestley, 28th August 2005
In spite of enjoying a wonderful weekend with my wife and our three children at the 2005 Red White and Blue festival, I set off home on Sunday after the event had finished with a feeling that something wasn’t quite right. And this stayed with me throughout my journey; it even took the edge off of what should have been an excellent meal in the evening sunshine on the terrace of the Cross Keys, the 17th century pub just a few miles east of the festival site on the A59.
Then after arriving home and unpacking the car and helping to get the kids organised for bed, I realised what it was that I was feeling; it was shame. The festival had been a graphic confirmation of just how meagre my contribution is in comparison to the mammoth efforts of others.
During the weekend I’d managed a couple of snatched conversations with event organiser Nick Cass, but whereas I’d had all the time in the world to chat away, I’ll bet Nick hasn’t done so much rushing to and fro since he was playing squash for a living. The work he and his wife Suzy must have put in to ensure the success of this year’s RWB would have overwhelmed most of the rest of us – I was overwhelmed just at the thought of it!
Then on Sunday I listened to Party Chairman Nick Griffin’s keynote speech — which was nothing short of inspiring. What a tremendous example to us all Nick Griffin is. Here is a leader who leads from the front and who’s not afraid to put himself on the line, and now he faces a possible prison sentence for having the balls to tell the truth about the state of Britain. Is that humbling or what? Nick’s question of “If we won’t do it, who will?” puts us all on the spot, especially those of us who, like me, don’t do as much as we ought to.
And then to cap it all, at the close of events on Sunday I was introduced to Lee Barnes, fellow BNP website columnist, whose prolific pen of the Brimstone column puts Joe Priestley’s infrequent scribbling to shame. Uncomfortably, I found myself mumbling excuses. That’s guilt for you!
And that’s without mentioning any of the many others who do the work, make the sacrifices, and take the risks to keep the BNP on course; humbling indeed.
I resolve to do more.
Idyllic setting
Confessions aside, what a truly excellent weekend we had at the RWB in Sawley; it’s hard to imagine how it could have been bettered.
And where better to begin than with every Briton’s obsession — the weather, which was perfect. In fact it was almost too good to be true. It was British weather at its best; glorious sunshine, ample warmth, a good breeze, and a plentiful supply of sweet fresh air; my wife and I and our children were all the picture of health when we got home.
The perfect British weather showed off the perfect English setting in all its glory. And although I’m a Yorkshire man and thus, naturally, it pains me to say anything good about Lancashire (only kidding folks), the festival site was, I can see I’m going to run out of superlatives here, surely it was nothing less than magnificent. This part of the Ribble valley is idyllic, and it comes as no surprise to learn that it provided the inspiration for the ‘Shire’ in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings; England at its greenest.
What a scene! Just to the south of the site sits famous Pendle Hill, atop of which founder of the Quakers George Fox had his visionary experience, and from behind which on Saturday night many of us enjoyed watching a huge blood-red full moon make its way into the sky. To the north there’s a fantastic vista all the way to the Yorkshire Dales’ three peaks, two of which Pen-y-gent and Ingleborough are in full view and in whose shadow the river Ribble makes its first appearance.
Out of all the rivers in the Yorkshire Pennines the Ribble is the only one to flow west — all the others make their way to the North Sea — and so like most other good things, the Ribble springs from God’s own county, Yorkshire. Apologies again for this Tyke chauvinism — we just can’t help it! And let’s have no more cracks about the Yorkshire man’s generosity, or rather lack of it; we let Lancashire have its most beautiful river, what more can they ask?
It was well worth the festival entrance fee just for the privilege of pitching our tent in this breathtaking countryside — certainly it’s the least expensive two nights camping we’ve ever had and without a doubt it was the best. And to anyone who could have made it to this year’s festival but didn’t, I say, “Make sure to leave space in next year’s diary for the Red White and Blue festival 2006 — you’ll be glad you did.”
Community culture and belonging
But the weekend was about much more than weather, camping, and countryside, although they did more than enough to set the scene; the fundamentals of the festival were community, culture, and belonging.
I overheard someone say that the festival site was probably one of the safest places to be in England, and who could have disagreed. There were over 300 well behaved children present, from toddlers upwards, and they were allowed to roam more or less at will in the knowledge that they were perfectly safe. Such a thing would be unthinkable in most other places in Britain today.
We were happy that our children were safe in our growing community; doesn’t that say it all?
Nick Cass writing on the BNP website on 23rd of August expressed concern that the politics at the event had perhaps been overshadowed by the entertainment and music. Well Nick knows more about these things than I do, but speaking personally, I thought it was pitched just about right.
The politics of the BNP is undoubtedly important, but I think the significance of the festival is that it creates much-needed space for the celebration and development of our community and culture, and importantly it provides an all too rare opportunity to experience belonging. In fact outside gatherings of family, and friends, and BNP meetings, it is the sense of belonging that is most missing from our lives.
A culture is a manifestation of a people’s interaction with life. Different peoples interpret the same thing differently, hence the uniqueness of cultures. The globalist establishment on the other hand seeks to impose its own culture and understanding of the world on all peoples in order better to control them, irrespective of their cultural background. The greatest obstacles to this wicked ambition are community and culture and the sense of belonging that they foster, all of which if not inhibited tend to reinforce one another.
The globalists’ strategy is to focus on the here and now so as to divorce people from past and future; they want the world to consist of a mass of individuals whose primary concern is short term personal advantage, and so they encourage the individual to see himself in isolation as opposed to being part of something greater that self.
The festival was an antidote to this poison.
And it’s encouraging that festivals like the Red White and Blue are becoming more evident across Western Europe and America. It seems that many White Europeans are rediscovering the tradition of celebrating their cultural legacy. And this in addition to the growth of patriotic movements throughout Europe is a sure sign of the gathering pace of the long overdue reaction to the twin evils of multiracialism and multiculturalism.
Good for the soul
I’m not one for visiting the shops. In fact with the exception of holidays I visit town only when there is no alternative. Most of the larger towns and all the cities near where I live are such alienating places that there’s absolutely no pleasure in visiting them, so I don’t.
And whenever possible I do my shopping on-line. Were I to visit one of my local towns on a market day I’m afraid my attention would inevitably be distracted away from the goods on offer and instead I’d find myself pondering the changing nature of the local population. It doesn’t make for a happy shopping experience!
So it made such a nice change to wander round the stalls and shops on the festival site, here and there stopping to talk, and where the only distractions were pleasant ones. Lots of reading matter, interesting arts and crafts, a host of regional British delicacies, fine scenery, sunshine, lively political debate, music for all tastes, and the company of like-minded people; it takes some beating, doesn’t it?
In fact it can’t be beaten. That’s why the BNP is winning.
Just being there was good for the soul.
It’s impossible to do justice to the event in just a couple of thousand words. There were so many positives to the weekend that I’m sure everyone who attended had their own particular highlights. Most memorable for me was the wonderful ambience of the festival that surely everyone must have experienced. And I really enjoyed sitting in the sunshine listening to the music, in particular the beautiful voice of the lovely Julie Russell, and the incredible talent of the ‘String Man’. And in sharp contrast on Saturday night I enjoyed the raucous BNP ‘Choir’ sing-along — although they’re certainly no G4!
Of the political events, I enjoyed the BNP Advisory Council’s version of Question Time. Unlike the BBC version there was no bullshit, common sense was highly evident, there was more wit, and there was no Dame Shirley Williams! Now we know why the BBC chooses not to invite BNP spokesmen onto its panel.
And it was good to hear from French and Swedish patriots about their fight against the evils of multiculturalism. It is so important that we work with our fellows across Europe and indeed across the wider world.
And of course, who could forget that fantastic firework display.
What an incredible multi-faceted weekend, many thanks to everyone who made it so enjoyable for us.
Originally published on the website of the British National Party.
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