VLF!

VLF!

“Come to the Party in Stanley Park this coming Saturday and Sunday.

“The Party is not just a free festival run by youth. It has been planned by the Vancouver Liberation Front and is an attempt to begin building a revolutionary youth society.

“The Party is an alternative to high cost rock festivals that exploit youth. Phil Ochs is coming. And groups such as Django, Tomorrow’s Eyes, Seeds of Time, Motherhood, Uncle Smug, Black Blues Band, United Empire Loyalists, High Flying Bird, Subterranean Fire, Floon, Strange Movies, and Stoney Plain have all agreed to play.

“The Party is also an attempt by youth to control themselves and their own culture. For this reason workshops on ecology, basic rights, organizing, woman’s liberation and survival skills are an important part of the Party.”

And so the Vancouver Liberation Front press release goes on.

The word got around Vancouver and surrounding districts about two weeks before the date the Party was scheduled. The power that was to fuel the whole thing was, basically, political energy. That energy has been building in Vancouver slowly for the past three years; dozens of different protest movements, each originally conceived as fixed projects, now starting to work together, to overlap, intermingle, now producing a single vanguard: the Vancouver Liberation Front.

The city of Vancouver (pop. 750,000), located within fifty miles of Washington State, sits sheltered between the Fraser River and the Lions Mountains, somewhat freed of gross air pollution by the close

proximity to clean sea air blowing in off the Georgia Strait. Within the city itself lies Stanley Park, the site of the Party. Around the turn of the century, through a capitalist/militarist mistake, this large segment of choice waterfront property was ripped off four local Indian tribes and set up as Stanley Park with a 99 *year lease signed between the city and federal government. According to the terms of the agreement, the only way the federal government can get the land back before the lease is up is to convert the thing into a military base. Do you know what fat chance means?

Anyway, the city conceived of a Parks Board td take care of the land. Aside from the Zoo, there’s about 10,000 acres of lush rain forest, trails, four or five still unpolluted beaches and numerous grassy areas that the Board has control over. The problem is now one of over-control. The birth involves Stanley Park as an anti-people, especially young people’s Park:

“No person shall take part in any procession, march, drill, performance, ceremony, concert, gathering or meeting in or an any park or driveway

unless the written permission of the Board is obtained.”

“No person shall make a public address or demonstration or do anything likely to cause a public gathering or attract attention in any park without written permission of the Board.”

“No person shall operate any amplifying system or loudspeaker in any park without written permission of the Board.”

“No person shall erect, construct, or build or cause to be erected, constructed or built in or on any park or boulevard any tent, building, shelter, pavilion, or other construction whatsoever without permission of the Board.”

“No person shall use, occupy or travel along or upon any park driveway, or other park property in such a manner as to obstruct or to cause an obstruction, or to interfere with any person or traffic lawfully using the same.”

“No person shall post, paint, affix, or deliver any advertisement, handbill, poster or advertising card of any kind in any park or place.”

— excerpts from the Parks Board bylaws.

As you enter the park there is a statue of Lord Stanley looking serene; under him is the park dedication: “The use and enjoyment of people of all colours, creeds and customs for all time ...” Someone around here might read it to the Parks commissioners.

The VLF planned to make the Party a political act, a direct confrontation against the backwoods mentality that forms Vancouver’s power elite. The Party was scheduled to start at noon, in Ceperley park, (a smaller section of Stanley Park). However, with the advance publicity in Vancouver’s two underground

newspapers, the Georgia Straight and the Yellow Journal (published by the VLF), the more uptight factions in Vancouver started to bitch about this flagrant opposition to park rules. The trick was to do a little planning on their own. The most obvious answer would be to try and repress the Party. This would have been possible, as the city council, fearing a youth culture uprising this summer, recently approved a further purchase of 150 riot sticks and no doubt have been training their troops. Perhaps they realized the whole thing would be too much of an energy waste, and besides, the VLF was ready for an all-out confrontation.

Anyway, prompted perhaps by some age old adage, they decided to fight fire with water and came up with a counter-festival, a free one, to attract the now out of school kids away from the political happening in the park. Reportedly city council not only approved but forked out bread for promotion on one of Vancouver’s AM stations. The trip was a non-political peace thing attempting to prove kids could get together for nice clean fun without dope.

“The fire breathing radicals arrive at the party early . . .”

Hokay, so Saturday rolls around, and the VLF, still fearing police repression, decide to meet at two centres outside the park and march in together. Everything goes well; no cops, no hassles. Once inside the park and at the site the anarchist drummers start, people chant, the early morning rain lets up, the VLF people began to set up their tents, workshops, flags, etc. Two flat deck trucks arrive, a couple of generators start up — electricity — and a few local bands get ready. Everything is a little hushed, but cool. Once the music starts things get a little more relaxed, a little more together and the afternoon begins to shape up.

About 2500 people make it to the park Saturday, but the weather conditions weren’t that great. Workshops get set up, pamphlets and papers are distributed, a food fund gets underway and with the passage of time and dope everyone, including the more speedy VLFers, begin to unwind. The political trip becomes almost subtle. A couple of nudies arrive, people make it to the water, the local swings are right on and the bands play all night.

Sunday morning arrives wet. There’s not many people around but the general mood and the weather reports are optimistic. Sunday is mainly workshop day. Discussions are going on everywhere, and more and more people arrive. The ecology people have set up cleanup details and pollution info booths; the music workshop is delving into the commercial problems of Vancouver groups and is discussing the possibility of a collective or co-op booking agency; women’s lib is functioning; legal types have set up basic rights information tents; self defense groups have a tent; the VLF has a main switchboard and a group concentrating on discussions re VLF politics and plans for this summer. All the facilities are being used.

Meanwhile, at noon, in another small city park stuck deep within the polluted old area of Vancouver’s industrial complex, the False Creek Counter Festival gets underway. The sun has since come out, and about four thousand attend. The stage is better, the sound is better, disc jocks are acting as flower power MC’s and by the time the first chord is struck the crowd, mostly clean cut high school types, some with parents, are doing the middle class peace, no dope, good kids trip. The main attraction is a mixture of Vancouver’s plastic R&B groups and Tom Northcott, once with Warner/Reprise, now doing it on his own in Vancouver with his own studio, record label and publishing house. The cops here are very nice, just directing traffic and the crowd, very straight, is trying to get something, anything, together. The whole thing strikes a phoney note, lacking any of the group empathy evident at the Party, and the stage exhorsisms of peace and Woodstock type trips are only a bit above embarassing. The kids here are not doped, just duped. False Creek lasts another five hours, hopefully long enough to quash the Party. It. doesn’t, and a lot go to the Party at five. Everyone at the False Creek thing misses Phil Ochs.

As advertised, Phil arrives on Sunday afternoon, walks around, talks to people at the workshops, smiles a lot and generally does good things to the crowd of about five thousand. (Phil made rather a large impression when he and Allen Ginsberg made it to the Georgia Straight benefit last fall.) Phil finally makes it to the stage and accompanying himself on guitar does a rather fine set of his more popular political songs. “Joe Hill” actually rated a bit of a sing along. The fact that he is there adds a sort of credibility to the Party, and shit, man, he is charismatic. All is not that cool, however, and after the set Phil is beset by the VLF in a freewheeling discussion that labels him “traditional” in his revolutionary attitudes. I always thought he was romantic. Anyway, the atmosphere gets a little strained and Phil departs with less aggressive friends. For the Vancouver youth, though, his presence was certainly felt.

After Ochs departs the rock bands again take over the stage and the atmosphere gets a little restless, but still chummy. There’s still the odd comment about police raid, but there is no evidence that it will take place. The Party continues late Sunday night. People are having fun; the spell is not broken. The cops were there, of course, but all plainclothed and out of sight. That is to say, everyone knew who and where they were. Like the thirty volleyball players down the beach certainly couldn’t play worth a shit and how come no tans? The city has a special tourist parks police force that gets to ride horses instead of hogs but only two of them were to be seen. Narcs were present with cameras, etc., but no busts were reported at the Party.

All in all the Party was, on the whole, a success in that the basic reasons; i.e., freeing the park and getting the culture together — for free, were met and realized. Perhaps more people could have been made aware of their political position, but the large bulk of people present were already among the converted. Anyway, a lot of people got it on, protected and discussed our culture and had a good time. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Rick McGrath