WE ARE ONE LEICESTER FESTIVAL

The day after the demonstration by the English Defence League and counter-demonstration by Unite Against Fascism, several thousand people gather in Humberstone Gate for the We Are One Leicester Festival. This major event in the life of our city has been organised by Leicester City Council and Hope Not Hate.

Undoubted highlight of today is a free gig by Billy Bragg, who includes a rousing rendition of "We Shall Overcome". Indie rockers Reverend and the Makers perform at the end of the day. In between these two sets, various entertainers and local worthies appear on stage to reinforce our pride in the city's diversity and our commitment to its unity. Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths, Cllr Manjula Sood, takes to the stage to speak on behalf of Leicester Council of Faiths:

Good afternoon One Leicester! It’s so beautiful to stand here and see all of you.

On behalf of Leicester Council of Faiths, I would like to say a big thank you to all of you. Yesterday we showed that we stood united and today is a remarkable day: Ten! Ten! Ten! Tenth of October 2010 when the whole city has come together.

On behalf of all the Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jains, Bahá'ís and Buddhist communities and Jews, I would like to pass on their gratitude.

EDL is defeated yesterday, with a very strong message: you are not welcome here. There’s no room for them, even to stand there among us.

Our long and proud history of Leicester – of love respect, understanding, respect, our heritage; many cultures, beliefs, neighbourhoods –  have proved nobody can come and divide us. Our community cohesion cannot be challenged.

You can see her full speech (four minutes long) on YouTube along with a variety of other videos on a playlist there, offering extensive coverage of contributions from the stage and among the crowd.

Humberstone Gate is rammed this afternoon. There are many displays and activities put on by local community groups, local authorities and service providers from the city and county. Artists and performers are out in force too including some of my personal favourites, the stilt-walkers (photo above). There's a lovely touch of autumn sunshine and a palpable sense of relief that yesterday's events are behind us and togetherness about going forward.

Leicester Council of Faiths has space in the  marquee, where we set up one of our banners and hand out loads of leaflets. You can get a good look at it in a short video posted by pappukadri on YouTube (listen for Grace's distinctive shoot-out for her brother at 0:38). We have a good spot, near the front and next to the fellow blowing up the helium balloons - but the folk on our stall spend more time tying and tethering balloons than anything else!

I also get out and about with fliers for Leicester Speaks. We're kicking off that week of activities across the city with our launch event on this same spot tomorrow morning.

BBC Radio Leicester covered the event on its website. Links to several examples of media coverage of today can be found on the web page, Uniquely Leicester.

As far as our small contribution to this big event went today, thanks to Barbara, Celia, Lucy (and Harry and Gracie) for helping.