In 2019, a number of videos circulated online showing citizens celebrating the birthday of potholes. These celebrations took place on major and minor roads in a variety of countries. The videos are in protest against the condition of roads and the delay in maintenance. They circulated to deliver a message to those responsible to act, usually local municipalities. New Tactics has gathered a few examples of those who used birthday celebrations to protest ineffective local governance.
Global Pothole Celebrations as Protest Methods
In Lebanon, a citizen made a video for a pothole on the Barbara Highway (May, 2019). They brought a small cake and sang to the pothole for the anniversary of its existence. They finished the song with, “I wish to see you repaired.” Less than 24 hours after the spread of the birthday video, the Ministry of Works vowed to repair the potholes on Barbara Highway.
In the suburn of Karm, Tunisia, a citizen used a band to celebrate the pothole birthday with music (August, 2019). The humorous protest lasted 30 days. A video clip was widely circulated on social media of the band performing birthday songs around the pothole. After the clip spread on social media, the process of repair and maintenance of the pothole began.
In Morocco, residents of the Sabila neighborhood in Fnideq celebrated the first birthday of a pothole in their community (October, 2019). It is the second time that Moroccans have resorted to this form of protest against the postponement of maintenance. Residents of the neighborhood encircled the pothole carrying candles and a birthday cake. Residents sang a “birthday song” chant, before they extinguish the candles and set out to repair the potholes themselves. The move protested the municipality’s lack of response to their repeated complaints about the spread of potholes and the safety concerns they pose.
Similarly, residents of a neighborhood in the city of Agadir, southern Morocco, also held a birthday party for a pothole in one of its alleyways. The ceremony was a youth initiative the neighborhood after a year-long wait for the hole to be filled. Youth, in turn, brought a birthday cake, balloons and candles, and celebrated the birthday of the pothole with music and dance. The pothole appeared in a video receiving a piece o cake with a plate and spoon just like the other young people involved. The participating youth saw that the pit as an example of larger infrastructure problems.
In the United States, a citizen demanded several times that the local municipality fix a pothole on a crowded road but never received a reply. After three months of calls without response, they instead headed to a nearby bakery and bought a small piece of cake (July, 2019). A 3-shaped birthday candle symbolizes the three months of the pothole’s existence. The citizen posted the celebration to social media, and the municipality appeared the following day to fix the hole.
In Plumtree, England in March 2017, a pothole on a major highway completed its second year of life. So the residents of the region decided to bring a cake and two candles and celebrate its birthday. When the citizens who held the party were asked about the reason for doing this Vonnie Daykin explained:
It’s dangerous for people who drive, and who cycle, because if you come to a pothole you have to swerve out in to the road which makes it unsafe for everyone. I last complained back in September or October last year and they came and said they weren’t bad enough to fix.
