Extinction Rebellion: Glastonbury march by climate protesters

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-48793814

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Thousands of festival-goers have taken part in a climate change protest march at Glastonbury Festival.

The event, a collaboration between Extinction Rebellion and Greenpeace, began at the Park Stage and ended at the Stone Circle.

At the end of the march, crowds formed a large human sculpture of an hourglass to symbolise extinction.

Ruairi Brogan, a student from Belfast, said: "I think it will be remembered as the start of something, of change."

Extinction Rebellion describes itself as an "international movement" that uses "non-violent civil disobedience" to bring issues such as climate change to the fore.

In April, protests by the group's activists across London saw 1,130 people arrested for various offences.

Ashleigh Hodges, 28, from London, said she missed the protest in April because she was working.

"I was gutted so when I heard it was happening here I wanted to come [to Glastonbury]," she said.

"Everyone wants to save the world - it's a really lovely thing."

Daryl Haines, 21, said going to a festival could make people realise they did not need plastic bottles or cutlery or to shower every day.

He added: "People need to be taught that we can change. I think people really were listening today."

Music officially begins at the festival on Friday, with headline performances by Stormzy, The Streets and The Cure over the weekend.

In the London protests in April, protesters blocked roads at Marble Arch, before moving on to Oxford Circus, Waterloo Bridge, Piccadilly Circus and Parliament Square.

They also caused more than £6,000 of damage at the Shell headquarters in Belvedere Road.

Over 10 days protesters glued themselves to and sat on top of trains on London's light railway, marched on Heathrow Airport, staged "die-ins", glued themselves to the entrance of the London Stock Exchange and chained themselves to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's home.