Sucessful street party, London [& videos]

1.05.2008
The Space Hijackers Mayday street party is being held in Shepherd Market, Mayfair.

Lots of fun had by all despite heavy police presence. Several sound systems. Dancing. Acting. Boozing. Maypole.

Although the police surrounded the revellers in Shepherd Market they didn’t stop individuals coming and going and I didn’t see any arrests.

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Original call-out:

Mayday Meeting Point – 1708 revisited

Come and join us for a celebration and re-enactment of the state’s oppression of the traditional May Fayre in Mayfair. A collaboration between Space Hijackers and The Metropolitan Police Players….

MAYDAY MEETING POINTS

1) Space Hijackers, Peasants, Aristocracy, Performers, Merchants, Peddlers, Strumpets and Virgins Meet in Green Park by Green Park tube, we will then head off to the May Fayre at 2:03pm promptly

2) Metropolitan Police, Fools, Soldiers and Vagabonds Meet outside Bond Street tube station, we will then head off to the May Fayre at 2:34 promptly

Please note it is very important you do not join the wrong meeting point, otherwise you will look like a total fool!

Call this number for live updates of where we will be – 07513335777

Things to bring:

Musical Instruments, Corsets, Hay, Farm Animals, Food to share, Drinks, Manure, Stocks, Maypoles, Venetian Masks, Mummers, Police, Flags, Revolutionary Fervour, Barricades, Mead, Babies and Royalty

x x x x x

Mayday 2008 is the 300th anniversary of the last free Mayday before the Grand Jury suppression of the traditional May Fayre in central London; a riotous, raucous celebration of fertility and freedom. From the 1st of May each year, and for up to two weeks afterwards, the people stopped working, rejected their normal routines then danced, drank, laughed and made love in the streets, jeering at the controlling figures of the Church and State, and turning everything they could upside down.

It was known as such “a nursery of vice and debauchery”, that after 1708 the authorities, having had enough of this dangerous freedom and subversion, shut it down. Although there were some attempts at reviving it, the creeping spectre of gentrification made sure it couldn’t continue, as the area of the fayre was gradually built over with palaces and playgrounds for the rich.

To commemorate this significant anniversary, and the still thriving tradition of over the top state control, the Space Hijackers and the Metropolitan Police proudly present a collaborative re-enactment of the end of this traditional May Fayre. Our modern-day interpretation of the cycle of uprising and suppression is in keeping with the attempted repression of parties, protests and gatherings enacted by the state throughout the ages.

In act one, the Space Hijackers will be inviting people to join a mayday street party in it’s traditional home, with music, bands, food and revelry. This will be later followed by the Metropolitan Police Players, who will be re-enacting a classic clamping down on civil liberties and freedom of the people.

All are welcome to this celebration, bring food, bands, mead, rum, codpieces, bales of hay, 18th century prostitutes, music, laughter, wonky teeth, corsets, bustles, spit roasts and virgins dancing around poles.

The exact location of the fayre is still a closely guarded secret, however it will be revealed closer to the date here on our website.

STUFF YOU SHOULD TO KNOW

COSTUME IDEAS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1700-1750_in_fashion

http://www.marquise.de/en/1700/pics/1700a.shtml

http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/fashion/round/18th_century_men/formal_wool/index.html

http://www.freewebs.com/fashionmuseum/1700.htm

MAYDAY HISTORY:

http://libcom.org/library/a-history-of-mayday

http://www.urban75.org/mayday02/history.html

http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/grub/mayfair.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/news/may/mayday/mayday_history.shtml