COVID is just another disease that’s come out
during mankind’s existence on Earth.
I like balloons, I like music.
We thought we’d create something without outside interference.
People still want to party.
People are getting stressed out at home and stuff.
It almost looks as if...
coronavirus hasn’t happened, like,
this is just... looks like a rave I would usually see.
I’ve come across a few Instagram pages
which are advertising illegal raves
that are taking place throughout London
during COVID-19 lockdown.
And this is a secret WhatsApp group which has about 300 people in there.
And what they do is, they send you the location to the rave
a few hours before it begins.
So I’ve got in touch with two of the event organisers
and they’ve actually agreed to meet me today
ahead of one of their parties,
which is taking place on a canal boat.
How many parties have you organised since COVID-19?
Fourth or third.
During COVID, we try to work
to a third of the capacity of the venue.
So today, honestly you could probably fit about
a 150 people where we’re doing the party, yeah.
We’re gonna have 60 or 70.
So, as things are getting more relaxed,
that you can see with the protesting,
going on and all that sort of stuff.
Aren’t you worried about infecting other people?
Today there’s probably going to be thousands of people in Westminster,
that have come, they’ve got no sanitiser,
they’ve got no PPE, they’ve got nothing.
See today everyone’s going to have masks,
PPEs, so it’s up to them.
I’ve always got regularly sanitiser,
and I’m washing my hands more.
Sure, I just think when it’s a protest, it’s political.
What about all those people all together?
Even one old man, 96 years old,
he was part of the protest and he was there
in the middle of everybody.
I just think people would see the protest
as something that’s political
and then people would see partying as you know having a jolly
and be offended by that.
Yeah but, I could have a protest here today
and then just turn on some music that makes it legal, and all that.
Everyone's going to have their own views and their own sides.
COVID, yeah...
yesterday was it not the biggest killer in the country?
But because the media are directing us
to COVID they’re paying attention to it.
This week, the media are all about Black Lives Matter.
So no-one is not paying as much attention to it.
So we’re not, like, media puppets or anything like that.
So we’re putting on our little gatherings
just like everybody else
and we are making them as safe as possible.
Now, what I know the law to be, yeah?
Is if there’s a disturbance,
you call the police force and then they will come.
If there’s no law being broken
they will permit you to continue, right?
These officers attended,
I've got more of it.
Where they tell us to turn it up.
I’ve got footage where the police are telling us
to turn the music up because we’ve turned it down.
They told us to turn up the music and they check the whole area
the fire exits, the gathering, the space between everybody.
And they said, “You know what, you’re adhering to the rules.
We can’t see no problems here.
You lot can carry on.”
So if the people that enforce the law have told us to continue
am I breaching any laws,
your honour, if I was to stand in court?
Well, I think you are. Yeah.
As far as I’m concerned,
we have not breached any laws or anything
because the people that enforce it came down and said,
“Everything’s okay, continue.”
So do you go through any health and safety precautions
when you do throw these gatherings?
So during this COVID time
we’ve got two infrared temperature guns,
the infrared that the doctors use
because you’d be surprised a lot of our staff
are actually journalists, the people that come,
there are doctors, lawyers, police officers,
you’d be surprised.
But we’ve got all the PPE.
You get a thermometer check before you enter
to make sure your temperature’s not above or whatever.
Any transactions you do or interaction,
there’s sanitiser for you to use.
So we actually know that anyone coming or gathering with us
are not carrying none of the symptoms of COVID-19, innit?
I think without doing a test,
you’re not going to know whether they have it or not.
-Yeah. -And--
It’s just like the flu, just like everything else.
So you think it’s like the same as other flu?
Yeah, yeah, yeah course it is, of course it is.
One, we should have just shut the borders straight away
if this was serious and all that, yeah, like, who would be like,
“You know what, there is a murderer outside but my front door's open.
Let’s leave it open.”
Why do you feel like it is important
to throw mass gatherings during this time?
Because you know what it is, yeah,
everyone’s got their own vulnerabilities and unfortunately,
the government or the powers that be, can’t get to everybody.
The media ain’t concentrating on the amount of people
that have killed themselves due to mental health problems,
isolation, loneliness, during this time and that, yeah?
What these like gatherings do,
they allow people to be themselves and be free
and not be judged and to gather with similar like-minded people
in a safe environment.
We’ve just got the builders in
so that we can have complete privacy on the drug thing.
Everybody during the Coronavirus has been a bit confused about
what they’re allowed to do, what they’re not allowed to do.
And they’re definitely are some blurred lines there
and I do blame the government for it.
But at the same time, I mean, it’s pretty obvious that
putting on a mass gathering of, you know, a 100 plus people
isn’t right during a time like this.
And I think people will watch it, especially people who have been
taking precautions and not being able to see their families
and they'll be angry.