The North East Film Archive is one of a network of regional film archives established to collect, preserve and show film made in, or about the North East of England. Our collections are non-fiction, and date from the early 1900s to the present day, providing a rich record of life in the region over the 20th century. Many of our films are available to watch, free of charge, on our website.
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Billingham Week 1964
A heavy dose of folk dance and music lures Billingham shoppers to a modern town centre precinct.
From the collection of:
Overview
A ballroom beauty queen dance-off, balloon races, civic parade with juvenile jazz bands, and a travelling fairground are amongst an exciting array of events taking place in Billingham to mark the official opening of a new town centre precinct. Folk dance and music are a strong show during a rainy Billingham Week, which hosts fiddler Dave Swarbrick, later with Fairport Convention, and the clog-shod Britannia Coco-Nut Dancers.
Captured in grainy colour by the Billingham & District Cine Club, the 1964 Billingham Week blossomed into the renowned Billingham International Folklore Festival, which now attracts performers from around the world. The festival was the result of a chance conversation that year between the inspired Clerk to Billingham council, Fred Dawson, and Philip Conroy, a teacher and folk dance enthusiast from the Sunderland area, who directed the festival until his death. Dave Swarbrick is pictured with the Ian Campbell folk group but later played on Fairport Conventions seminal album, Liege & Lief, considered to have launched the electric folk rock movement.
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