HOPE Festival 2005
A few determined people acting together can build a growing and amazingly successful community of peace
Banner welcoming visitors to the 11th Annual HOPE Festival outside University of Maine Field House on April 23, 2005
The HOPE Festival is sponsored by the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine
Since 1995, the HOPE Festival (Help Organize Peace Earthwide) has welcomed spring and Earth Day in the Bangor, Maine area. The event offers each year a wide variety of information, education, and entertainment for adults and children. This year there were eighty local non-profit organizations represented with information tables and displays. It’s always a fun day for everybody with great music and other entertainment, an extensive children’s program, food, special events, and much more.
The HOPE Festival lets us have fun while changing the world — and we have changed the world. It is one of the big reasons our community is great.
Please click this link to reach a small set of photos from Saturday’s very successful event.
April 26th, 2005 at 08:33
I am going on a march on May 1st here in sunny Sweden. The May Day March, as it is called, is a bit of a tradition for Swedes. However, in recent times it has acted as a forum for more left-leaning politics. In point of fact, the Communist Party of Sweden is using the march as a platform for its critcism of Bush’s global hegemonic agenda. Whilst it is uplifting that you can actually do this here, I have noticed a lot more animosity held towards people on the left and, yes, those on the right have been riled too. I mean, here in Sweden you have a Social Democratic government who, in the style of New Labour, do not actually follow grassroots social democracy. However, those on the Right criticise them for their social democractic politices. Ironic I think. We must bare in mind though that Sweden DOES have a social democractic tradition, which won’t be fully erased with the emergence of this country’s Right Wingers who, in Germany, are considered more left-leaning. Despite these ambiguities, there are those on the Right who actually embrace the BUsh Doctrine, especially those who believe in neoliberal economic reform. They really don’t have a clue about Bush unfortunately and simply swallow the rhetoric.