Anyone driving along Slash Lane at the beginning of August may have wondered (like me) what the marquee, tents and camper vans were doing in a field with the entrance marked as ‘Freedom Festival. All welcome’. I called in to find out more.

This festival, not to be confused with the annual arts festival held in Hull, had speakers and music and was about giving voice to alternative ideas not covered greatly in the mainstream media.  Speakers included people like ex-Tory MP Andrew Bridgen who was expelled from the party after criticising the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines; Jo Whitaker, a ‘spiritual scientist’ who believes in the healing power of crystals vs the medical establishment; ‘Mick the Ticket’, a veteran freedom activist who challenges the scientific accounts of climate change; and the leader of the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom party, Teck Dhong. I had never before heard of The Tribe of Leicestershire and their Facebook page is limited but it seems that they too, are anti-vaccine people who have come together.

Music was a mix from indie, acoustic and reggae to ‘conscious metal and rebel rock’; including the Daz Band which, their Facebook page says: “formed at the height of the Covid madness”.

This all felt very different from what Barrow Voice usually reports on and by exploring what all the tents and campervans were doing on Slash Lane, we do not support or condemn the views of the festival-goers. We merely report.

Karisa Krcmar