In 1999, Peoples Global Action, an umbrella organisation of Western non-violent direct action groups organised a Carnival of Protest. The event was a worldwide series of street protests timed to coincide with the G8 summit in Cologne, Germany. The day became known simply as J18. In London, the day was discussed in the open weekly meetings of Reclaim the Streets. Fundraising was carried out by collecting donations and running a series of benefit gigs. The associated publicity campaign distributed colourful stickers and over 10,000 posters in the UK to advertise the Carnival.

The British direct action group Reclaim the Streets was born out of anti-road protest camps in the early 1990s. Over the subsequent years members of the group changed their focus, instead campaigning against the root cause of the problem as they saw it, namely the capitalist system.