Demonstration

A political protest group that was formed in 2002. Originally the group was known as Batucada Mandela - but with the many changes in South Africa by the late 1990s it was decided to rename the group Bloco Liberdade. The group played on all the major Stop the War parades from 2002 onwards and recently performed on the TUC demo on 26 March.

As with Batucada Mandela, the colours of the group are red and white.

Participants include dancers and drummers from most major samba groups across London and the south-east.

All sambistas are invited to participate.

Oxford BOP Samba started in 2003 during the British No War on Iraq campaign. Originally an ad-hoc junk band, we now have a full set of traditional samba percussion drums and a friendly and growing membership. BOP Samba is  part of the global Rhythms of Resistance network of activist samba bands.