THOUSANDS of people will flock to St Peters on the October Long Weekend to protest the destruction of Sydney Park and support the anti-WestConnex blockade.

The Save Sydney Park Festival is being organised by Reclaim The Streets (RTS) and WestCONnex Action Group (WAG), and will feature multiple stages. Local acts will play everything from Chicago house to UK garage, hip hop, jungle, and drum and bass.

The family-friendly festival will be held on the Euston Road side of Sydney Park, which residents have occupied around the clock since 19 September to prevent the destruction of hundreds of trees for WestConnex. It will start at 1pm on Saturday 1 October and end at sunset.

“Where we see a park, Casino Mike sees an opportunity to sell us out,” said RTS spokesperson James Loch.

“The Baird government cares only for the profits of their major donors, but we care about every inch of our precious green space.

“If money grew on trees, you can bet they wouldn’t be cutting them down in Sydney Park.

“We will not let them trade in our beautiful park for their dirty toll road,” said Mr Loch.

“If Mike Baird gets his way, over 14,000 square metres of Sydney Park and hundreds of trees in it will be destroyed for WestConnex,” said WAG spokesperson Janet Dandy-Ward.

“They’re planning to ‘replace’ these devastating losses with what may be the world’s worst park: some ‘green space’ under the massive flyovers and unfiltered pollution stacks of the monstrous St Peters Interchange.

“The community has had enough of Mike Baird selling us out to his toll road mates, and we’re delighted to team up with Reclaim the Streets again to help stop WestConnex,” said Ms Dandy-Ward.

Contacts: James Loch 0403 601 511, Amanda Sordes 0479 101 272

Poster artwork available on request. Facebook event page: bit.ly/savesydparkfest

Reclaim The Streets has a long history of large, colourful protest festivals. View photos of previous events on Facebook at bit.ly/rtsalbum1, bit.ly/rtsalbum2, bit.ly/rtsalbum3 and bit.ly/rtsalbum4