On 17 September, Glasgow’s George Square was the venue for the Make Peace Festival, organised by Scottish CND. Hundreds gathered for the event which included speakers, stalls and live music. A large selection of four hundred children’s pictures was also exhibited in the square, each inspired by the theme “Paint for Peace”.
Speakers included Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie and Bill Kidd, the Scottish Nationalist MSP. Those who came along combined to form a large CND symbol, in human formation. With the help of some long pieces of string and a loud hailer, this wasn’t as difficult as you might have expected.
The festival was one of a series of events being held to mark International Day of Peace. This included a now annual event held at the Scottish parliament, this year hosted by Bill Kidd, a member of the Global Council of PNND (Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament).
The parliament included a discussion on how the meaning of “defence” and “security” might be redefined to encompass the challenges of climate change, economic chaos and the energy crisis. This discussion was organised by Scotland’s for Peace and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) which was launched in Scotland last year and was led by Kerstin Grebäck, reporting from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom International in Costa Rica and Angie Zelter, founder member of Trident Ploughshares.