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This coming Saturday, Bath will be the setting for some of the most powerful and ambitious pieces of street theatre ever to be enacted on behalf of biodiversity-loss.
The ‘Funeral for Nature’ procession will pass through the city centre of Bath on Saturday 20 April, two days ahead of Earth Day on Monday 22 April.
Funeral processions will take place simultaneously in Boston, Sydney, Gothenburg and Lisbon. The Gothenburg event will be a ‘Nordic Funeral for Nature’ with groups joining from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland.
Bath will also host the largest global assembly of Red Rebels ever seen, 400 in total. This is 5 times more than ever before, with people travelling from all over the UK and joined by groups from the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark. Dressed in the distinctive red rebel outfits and accompanied by scores of drummers playing a single funeral beat they will form a procession through the city’s historic streets, culminating in a dramatic finale in front of the Abbey.
According to the State of Nature Report 2023, the United Kingdom is now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, with 43% of UK bird species in decline, and 97% of wildflower meadows disappearing in the UK since the second world war. Statistics like these are what have motivated the group to take action, flooding the city in red and declaring ‘Code Red for Nature’.
Thousands of ‘Orders of Service’ will be given out to onlookers, containing information about the crisis and what they can do about it.
The Bath procession will be joined by nature campaigner Chris Packham who will deliver a ‘eulogy’ to the crowd at the finale of the event when it arrives in front of the Abbey. This will follow a flashmob performance by the West of England Youth Orchestra.
The centre-piece of the procession will be a beautiful funeral bier, constructed from willow, with a ‘Mother Earth’ figure created by renowned artist Anna Gillespie. It will lie on a naturalistic bed of planting staged by Chelsea award-winning landscape designers Dan Pearson Studio, followed by mourners dressed in black.
The event has been planned to coincide with Earth Day, happening just two days later on 22 April, to highlight that we are at ‘CODE RED’ for nature and that around the world, biodiversity is being annihilated at a terrifying rate. Organisers say that we are entering the ‘sixth mass extinction’ event and the consequences could be catastrophic if we do not act swiftly, and that in spite of promises from governments, biodiversity loss shows no sign of slowing.
“The intention is to send a powerful SOS message for nature by creating a visual spectacle, that will in equal measures shock and inspire onlookers. The UK has sleepwalked into this nature crisis and the fact that we are now one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world simply isn’t being talked about enough. We want the processions to create a talking point and for the public to be moved to demand that Government, Local Authorities, landowners and businesses urgently do more to restore biodiversity.”
Rob Delius, Head of Sustainability & architect at Stride Treglown – one of the organisers and the person who put forward the Funeral for Nature idea.
“There is no better time to act than right now. It is clear that we are in a crisis and there are no second chances – we have to do something immediately. We hope that this demonstration, in its beauty and urgency, will incite action in more cities across the world. We want to see Red Rebels on streets across the globe, spreading the message that if we don’t act now, we won’t be able to act at all!”
Doug Francisco, Creative Director and Founding Member of The Invisible Circus
“Unlike conventional protests, the procession will be free of banners or placards. Instead we are relying on the strong imagery of the huge assembly of Red Rebels and the impact of the figure of Mother Nature on a funeral bier carried by mourners to get the message across. Everyone participating has a powerful desire to express their desperate feelings of loss and fear as the natural world struggles to survive in the face of our human onslaught.”
Anna Gillespie, artist – designing the centrepiece.
The event is being organised with Extinction Rebellion and is a collaboration with the Red Rebel Brigade, artists, designers and community groups.
The procession begins at 2pm from the Percy Centre on New King Street, Bath BA1 2BN and will pass via the Circus and Bath’s main thoroughfare Milsom Street ending in front of the Abbey where Chris Packham will give his Eulogy. Chris Packham, landscape designer Huw Morgan, artist Anna Gillespie and an Extinction Rebellion representative will be available for interview afterwards.
EDITOR’S NOTES:
The Red Rebel Brigade, devised by members of Bristol’s Invisible Circus, is an international performance artivist troupe dedicated to illuminating the global environmental crisis and supporting groups and organisations fighting to save humanity and all species from mass extinction. The troupe was formed as part of the Extinction Rebellion Spring Uprising in April 2019, and has been growing in numbers and recognition ever since. (https://redrebelbrigade.com/)
UK’s flying insects have declined by 60% in 20 years | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
43% of UK bird species are in decline. State of Nature 2023 report on the UK’s current biodiversity (stateofnature.org.uk)
69% average decline in wildlife populations since 1970, says new WWF report (worldwildlife.org)
One million species at risk of extinction, UN report warns (https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1037941 )
Earthworm populations in UK down by over one third in last 25 years, likely to have significant effects on soil health and function. 2024 “Horizon Scan” in Trends in Evolution and Ecology (https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/home)
Earth Day was launched in 1970 at the start of the modern environmental movement. It is now “the largest civic event on Earth, involving billions across 192 countries” (https://www.earthday.org/)
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It’s also worth noting that in the morning Kidical are organising a mass family bike ride through the city centre campaigning for safer cycling. Assembly at orange Grove 11 am.