To really appreciate the importance of Exeter’s Respect Festival, just imagine some of the reactions if a two-day celebration of anti-racism, equality and diversity in the city was proposed for the first time today.
It would prove divisive. Many people would love the idea, but you can bet there’d be some pushback, with the word ‘woke’ being bandied around freely. Critics would describe the support and sponsorship by the city and county councils as a waste of taxpayers’ money. You can imagine the gleeful objections from Exeter’s recently elected Reform UK county councillors, given the party’s determination to scrap all diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives.
The debate would probably degenerate into nasty social media attacks on refugees, asylum seekers and the LGBQT+ community; as a result, groups representing or supporting them might be deterred from taking part in the festival. If Exeter Respect 2025 had been the inaugural event, it would probably have been more of a political protest event than a celebration.
‘Let’s overcome fear and ignorance’
As it is, Exeter Respect is now in its 28th year, and is a much-loved fixture in the city’s events calendar. Sure, it’s now part of the resistance to the hatred and division fuelled by the far right (and lately, by Keir Starmer’s notorious ‘island of strangers’ speech), but it’s not an angry counter-attack.
As the organisers say:
“The Respect ethos is a simple one: racism and prejudice often spring from fear, and fear is often based on ignorance, so let’s overcome ignorance by getting to know one another and sharing not shunning our cultures.
“One of the best ways to get to know someone is to enjoy yourself with them, hence our celebratory event and adoption of the old Commission for Racial Equality slogan: ‘All different, all equal’.
The festival takes place in Belmont Park in the city centre, and is an opportunity for Exeter’s different groups, nationalities and cultures to come together, sharing their food and drink, music and dance, skills and crafts. It’s also a marketplace for ethical traders, and a chance for local charities, councils and support organisations to promote the help they offer. The festival has a supremely laid-back and friendly atmosphere. It’s the kind of place where you can strike up a conversation with anyone, as if you already know them – which, in a sense, you do. An island of non-strangers, if you like. And it’s only two quid to get in.
I was there for most of the two days, Saturday June 7 and Sunday 8, on the West Country Voices stand. It was a lovely position, near the main stage, so there was a constant soundtrack of music and song – local choirs, Kirtan yoga chants, Indian dance, rock and reggae – as we chatted to the many, many visitors to our gazebo.
As well as promoting West Country Voices, we were representing our group Common Ground. This is an evolving movement of volunteer activists, fighting the attempts to fast-track UK politics towards the far right, and amassing support from Devon residents who are not happy with that direction of travel. We’ve sampled public opinion in several Devon towns with our ‘democracy meter’ – a set of simple questions about current political issues, displayed on a flipchart, with the option to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to whether you agree with them. At Exeter Respect we invited views on the prospect of US companies taking over the NHS, whether the UK should invest more in ‘green’ jobs and technologies, whether MPs should face tough penalties for lying to Parliament, re-nationalisation of the water industry, restoring our freedom of movement in Europe, the fairness of the current voting system, whether human rights are currently under threat, and whether immigration is good or bad for a nation.
Of course, we knew the responses would reflect the ethos of the Respect Festival, not the general views of Exeter residents. We’d brought the democracy meter as a talking point, to illustrate what we’re doing. But it’s important to point out that, everywhere we take our flipchart, most people are truly grateful to be asked for their views, and pleased to see how many people agree with them. The festival was no exception.
Multiculturalism is not a political statement -it’s a fact
“We need more events like this,” said Dave Wright, who was at Respect 2025 with Devon County Council’s Migration and Resettlement Team.
His team helps refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers in Devon, signposting them to free English classes, along with translation services, family support and advice on business and employment. Their stand was in a quieter area away from the performance stages, surrounded by stalls representing different nationalities and cultures including Exeter’s Afghan, Nigerian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Kurdish and Hong Kong communities. Stallholders, their families and visitors to the festival were mingling happily, in a scene that would have Nigel Farage choking on his beer.
“Devon is a multicultural society: it’s not a political statement, it’s a fact,” said Dave. “And our duty as Devon County Council is to support every resident irrespective of their background.
“Multiculturalism is part of reality, it’s part of every country in the world and part of our history, and it’s the same in Devon.
“We did a survey a few years ago to find out how many first languages people had and counted 83 languages, all spoken by people resident in the Exeter area.
“I really support festivals like Exeter Respect, and I want to see more of them to be honest, because I think there’s not enough recognition of that multi-culturalism in Devon. Devon too often sees itself as monocultural. We’ve got cows and cream teas and beautiful fields and beautiful Dartmoor, but that’s not what Devon is all about. So I welcome festivals like this and I’d love to see them in other parts of Devon.”
He’s right – we do need more events like this, bringing people together in real life and real time, in a local public space. We can network and connect with individuals and organisations through our phone and computer screens, but the scope of those interactions often depends upon which online communities we have already joined. On the internet we can find kindred spirits scattered around the world, but miss out on potential friends and allies in our own towns and cities.
At Exeter Respect I kept bumping into people I had already met briefly through other local groups and activities, who were now involved in new initiatives I hadn’t come across online. They hadn’t been aware of my role with West Country Voices and Common Ground either, until they visited our stand. Circles of connection were overlapping like Venn diagrams as we chatted and exchanged contact details. Respect Festival isn’t just about tackling cultural barriers – it’s a reminder of the collective links we already have, just by living in the same locality.
Dave Wright told me: “One of the things I like most about Exeter Respect is that it’s local – all the groups you’re seeing here today – whether it’s the Hongkongers, the Afghan Community Exeter, the Bulgarian Society – they’re all local people. The people performing on the stages haven’t come in from Bristol or London, they’re Devon people. The organisers aren’t looking for big acts and big names, they’re giving local people and local kids the opportunity to be up there and perform and entertain each other.”
Contrast this with another event that took place in Exeter two weeks earlier. On Saturday, May 24, a group of people assembled on Cathedral Green to proudly champion ‘British values’ and ‘patriotism’, as part of the so-called Great British National Strike. This is supposedly a protest against the Labour government, but manifests itself as a knee-jerk, jump-up-and-bark response to the usual buzzwords: ‘two-tier policing’, ‘Pakistani grooming gangs’, ‘net zero’ and – of course – ‘stop the boats’. I wasn’t at the Exeter incident – I was counter-protesting at its counterpart in Plymouth – but apparently it consisted of a few dozen angry, Union Jack-bedecked racists who milled around and shouted for about 90 minutes before dispersing, possibly wondering if this is what triumph is meant to feel like.
Simple question: which of these two events did more to improve life in the city of Exeter? Which of these two groups of people was actually taking positive steps to encourage integration, unite people for a common cause, and revive community spirit?
And, incidentally, who was having a better day out?
