Climate change resistance group block Bristol roads armed with samba bands and unicorns

Get ready for some confusing protests to hit the streets of Bristol, as climate change resistance group Extinction Rebellion organise rolling samba roadblocks to raise awareness for their cause, and organisation.

Looking cool on your horsies lads

Some may be surprised at the choice of location, Bristol’s 2015 status as the European Green Capital, with commitments to cycling and one of the largest support bases for the Green party outside of Brighton make it seem like preaching to the partially converted.

Though the idea of converting the partially converted into die-hard true believers is a fairly normal method of gaining support. The protestors are armed with drums, signs and inflatable unicorns as far as the eye can see (or just past College Green).

Trying to let drivers know what's happening

The group have decided to meet today in Castle Park for a "street party to raise awareness of climate change". In association with local samba groups they plan to play music and block traffic, while engaging positively with drivers in scenes that will definitely remain 100 per cent civil.

Green MEP Molly Scot Cato has previously been in attendance with the group, notably at their November 1st protest, which featured a range of ages from toddlers with tiny drums up to and including pensioners with slightly larger drums.

What to expect

Despite the group claiming their intention is to “commit repeated acts of disruptive, non-violent civil disobedience” some are less than convinced.

Sources confirm that local energy companies are on high alert in various shades of red and orange as the London protest has featured trespass and vandalism of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

The Central London offices of DBEIS on Buckingham Palace Road, London were recently ruled to be green inefficient, a somewhat damning indictment of their commitment to change and improvement. At the time of writing protestors are inside and the building has been locked down.

Reports from the scene are that some of the protestors are elderly and sitting in the entrance holding signs, making lockdown procedures seem somewhat of an overreaction.

This picture sounds like a drum circle

Who are the protestors?

The newly formed group are in the process of "increasing" protest and to predict their next move is difficult, but until now no violence has been reported at their events, usually sit-ins and music-based affairs attended by a variety of individuals. However, their own public literature states they are willing to get arrested.

Violent, dangerous protestors

The groups' core beliefs include a national assembly of non-politicians to inform climate decisions and for the government to include legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions in the UK to net zero by 2025. Plans have been floated in government to achieve the same by 2050, however experts agree this will have missed the boat in terms of reversing climate change.

At the time of writing, no violence has been reported and the crowd includes dancing children, grannies and an inflatable unicorn

Pictures and on the ground reporting: Serena Isaacs and Aemilia Smith