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Welcome to the Wallsend Festival's web site. The Wallsend Festival is a community celebration of all that’s good in Wallsend, past, present and future. It takes place at the beginning of July each year culminating in Festival Saturday – which in 2012 will be 7th July. If you or your group would like to be involved in any way - please get in touch. We're already planning for 2012 which we hope will be the biggest and best Festival yet. We need lots of help to make the Festival happen, so whatever your talents or interests we'd like to hear from you. You can use the feedback form on this site to make contact or if you prefer call us on 0191 643 6419. |
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Latest news... 26/07/2011 - Wallsend Festival 2012 Organisers have announced the date for the 2012 Wallsend Festival. It will be held in the week leading up to Festival Saturday - July 7th 2012. The Festival aims to celebrate 'all that's good in Wallsend, past, present and future.' - so if you'd like to get involved in helping us to do that in 2012 please get in touch either by the contact form on this site of by phoning us on 0191 643 6419. We'll begin planning for 2012 in September so please come along on the 29th at Burnside if you'd like to get involved.04/07/2011 - Thanks for the memory! That's it for another year folks. If you were one of the thousands enjoying the sunshine on Festival Saturday we hope that you had a great day! News of plans for next year's Festival will appear here in the autumn. 29/06/2011 - all set... Everything is now in hand for this year's Festival which will open tonight (Wednesday) with the annual concert by the Wallsend and District Choral Society. See the programme for details. Late additions to the programme include the return of the popular paint ball range which the army will be bringing to Alexandra Street car park and Taking Part workshops will also have a marquee there. There's be more fairground rides than ever before as well as one or two other surprises. The weather looks set fair so we're all set! 10/06/2011 - Final preparations Following the last planning meeting on Thursday 9th June preparations are nearly complete. There are still some details to be finalised particulary around attractions on High Street East and Alexandra Street car park so watch this space for the latest news. Items confirmed in addition to the published programme are: 1 pm Saturday - Local History Walk led by Ken Hutchinson - leaving from the Anson PH - free Wallsend People's Centre will have a full programme on the day - largely with an African Theme as well as the chance to see the plans for the redevelopment of the Memorial Hall. Even more happening in Wallsend Parks with the Scouts demonstrating outdoor crafts and pony trekking also added to the line up. The Children's workshop hosted by Elizabeth Kane is confirmed to be taking place in the former Claire's Accessories unit in the Shopping Centre and Jamboree will be providing a Sensory Space in the former gold shop. More to follow! 19/05/2011 - The Festival draws near! Wallsend is gearing up for the return of the popular Wallsend Festival at the beginning of July. Held every year since 2001, the Festival is billed as a celebration of all thats good in Wallsend, Past, Present and Future. This year Festival Saturday is July 2nd. Once again visitors can look forward to a whole range of attractions with something for all the family. The Bandstand outside the Forum Shopping Centre will host a line up of live music compered by local singer and comedian Paul Phillips. Topping the bill this year are The Caffreys who need no introduction and are returning to their home town to play the Festival. Popular rhythm and blues band the Groovediggers will be another big draw and making his debut at the Festival is Tom Mitchell, son of Lindisfarne legend Bill Mitchell. Look forward to Tom introducing some songs from his newly released debut album Paper thin walls. As well as the live music line up therell be a range of craft stalls lined up outside Forum Shopping Centre and more live entertainment within the centre including displays by local dance groups, and also the ever popular Local History Society stall for those of a nostalgic bent. Therell be loads happening for the kids; this year North East based artist Elizabeth Kane will be working with children and young people at the festival to complete a series of mixed media collages based on iconic images of Wallsend. All participants should be accompanied by their parents or guardians. The finished artworks will be displayed in an exhibition in The Forum and online for everyone to enjoy." The Festival wouldnt be complete without the fairground Wallsends answer to the Hoppings which will once again be at the Coronation Club car park site. Once again High Street East will be closed to traffic between Station Road and Park Road to host more entertainment including dance displays and performance from local first schools, whilst the Alexandra Street car park will play host to vintage and hot rods cars from both sides of the pond. Moving out of the town centre theres a whole range of outdoor activities happening within the currently being restored Wallsend Parks. So if orienteering or tree climbing is your thing the Parks is the place to be! As a special one off for the Festival this year theres going to be a youth rock concert at the towns Segedunum Roman fort and museum. Aimed at the 11 18 audience and billed as The Event it will be feature a line up of high school bands and admission will be by wrist band only. Therell be special events happening at the Wallsend Library and the Peoples Centre and Friday will feature the annual Steel Band Festival at the Memorial Hall. Just before that on Wednesday evening the Wallsend and District Choral Society will present their annual concert venue to be confirmed at time of going to press. 23/03/2011 - Festival 2011 Plans are progressing nicely for this year's Festival, to be held around the week leading up Saturday July 2nd. We've still a few spaces left for craft stalls and are looking for more entertainers and other attractions to be part of the event. So if you'd like to take part in the biggest community Festival in Wallsend, then please get in touch either via our feedback page or emailing john.fleet@northtyneside.gov.uk. 06/07/2010 - That's it folks! Well the Festival is over for another year. We think that the tenth one was the biggest and best yet, but if you'd like to share your experiences with us why not use the feedback form on this site. We'll like to thank all who worked so hard to make the Festival such a good day and after a short break we'll be starting planning for 2011 - Festival Saturday will be July 2nd next year.....17/06/2010 - Wallsend Festival 2010 This year we are celebrating the 10th annual Wallsend Festival. As it will be coinciding with the World Cup, a special theme of “Around the World” has been chosen to highlight Wallsend’s connections with people, countries and cultures from around the globe. The Festival will kick off with a children’s fancy dress party on Saturday 26th of June, where those with the best costumes will be chosen as Festival King and Queen to preside over the week’s activities up to Festival Day on Saturday 3rd of July. There will be something for everyone to enjoy as we showcase talent from our local community, together with some special events and activities from further afield. We are especially pleased to premier at Wallsend Boys’ Club the international award winning film “Football Fables” with an introduction by its director Baff Akoto, which gives an inspirational insight into football in Ghana “the Brazil of Africa”; and, from closer to home, and performing on our main stage for the first time, local Bhangra star RV Narang, and Congolese musicians “Zibula”. Our musical show on Festival Day will also include the ever-popular Backworth Colliery Band, and singing from the Churches Together Choir and Learning Disabilities Federation’s “Sing Out Loud” , music from Immortal Vindication, and Wallsend’s own “Hollywood Bees” – the Hollies never sounded so good. And, on the High Street, look out for the fabulous Wallsend Wanderers marching band, and have a go at keep-fit craze “Zumba”, and playing steel drums, and join in with some medieval merrymaking,. During the week, The People’s Centre will be hosting an exhibition by Lebanese Artist Richard Fuad Macleod, poetry workshops and performances by Wajid Hussein and Wor Poets, and, on Festival Day, will host master marionette maker Lenka Pavlickova, and the café will be serving a menu from Uzbekistan. Many regular festival favourites will be returning, including the Children’s Fairground, a display of vintage cars, North Tyneside Steel Band, and the model railway exhibition. Also, the annual Wallsend and District Choral Society Concert will be at Trinity Methodist Church Hall on the Wednesday 30th of June. On 3rd July, Festival Saturday, the recently planted garden and urban orchard at the Learning Disabilities Federation’s HQ on Park Road will be open for cream-tea refreshments and there will be children’s games in nearby Richardson Dees Park. The Forum shopping centre will host dance performances including by Willington Quay’s Amanda Nicole School of Dance, and Chinese performer Candy Yan. Look out also for North Tyneside Art Studio’s exhibition at the Forum, Churchill Community College’s “Graffiti Wall” at the Library, and a range of free “Taking Part” arts workshops, and many craft and food stalls. Enjoy our 10th annual festival. For more information, call our festival hotline at Wallsend People’s Centre: Tel. 0191 263 502918/05/2010 - Not long to go now... With just about 6 weeks to go to this year's Festival, plans are coming together We now have a full Bandstand line up of live music: 11:00 - 12:00 Wallsend Churches Singing together 12:00 - 12:30 ‘Sing Out’ – local choir 12:45 - 13:45 ‘Hollies’ tribute band 13:45 - 14:30 ‘Bangra’ 14:30 - 15:30 African Band 15:30 – 16:30 ‘Immortal Innovation’- local school band 25/01/2010 - Wallsend Festival Association to link with Wallsend People's Centre for 2010 Festival The Wallsend Festival Association is delighted to announce that the Wallsend People's Centre will be working alongside the Festival Association in planning and delivering the 2010 Wallsend Festival - Festival Saturday is July 3rd this year. The People's Centre will take over much of the administrative and project management responsibility for this year's event in what is seen a trial year for both parties and the alliance with the Wallsend People's Centre will add to the existing partnership arrangements between the Festival Association and North Tyneside Council which has seen the Festival grown and expand over recent years.30/06/2009 - Gargoyle comes alive in Wallsend!
The blue creature is just one of the street entertainment acts at this year's festival, which takes place on Saturday 4 July between 10am and 4pm. In the lead-up to the festival, Wallsend and District Choral Society will join with a choir from Burnside Business and Enterprise College to present their annual Festival Concert, at the College at 7pm on Wednesday 1 July. Tickets are £4 and available from the college reception or members of the choir. On Friday 3 July the North Tyneside Festival of Steel Bands will take place at Wallsend Memorial Hall. The best of school steel bands will join together to form the biggest-ever school steel band in the north east with over 80 players coming together. Free tickets are available from dave@steelbandsnorth.org.uk Meanwhile Cloud Nine Theatre Company will be staging their popular 30-minute comedy 'Bingo!' each lunchtime at 12.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday at Wallsend Library. For more information TEL: 200 6968 or e-mailwallsend.library@northtyneside.gov.uk Festival highlights on Saturday 4 July include: - Live music and craft market and workshops outside the Forum shopping centre 03/06/2009 - Final preparations! We're nearly set for the ninth Wallsend Festival! The bandstand line up is confirmed, we have a host of attractions on High Street East and we're very much looking forward to the North East Pre-War Austin owners club staging a display on Alexandra Street car park this year. We hope to have the programme on line very shortly, but in the meantime, make sure that you have Saturday July 4th firmly marked in your diary!22/01/2009 - Funders suppor the Wallsend Festival We are delighted to acknowledge the generous financial support of the R W Mann Trust and the Sir James Knott Trust, both long time supporters of the Wallsend Festival, and who have both given generous donations towards the cost of the 2009 Festival. 22/01/2009 - Stall bookings now being taken Applications for stalls at the 2009 Festival are now invited. You can dowload a stall booking form from the link of the right hand side of this front page.12/11/2008 - Annual Report 2008 now online The Annual Report of the Wallsend Festival Association for 2008 is now online and can be downloaded from the link on the home page of our site. It tells the story of another successful year for the Association, and begins to look forward to our ninth Festival culminating in Festival Saturday, July 4th. We'd love to get more individuals and groups involved with the Festival, so if you'd like to learn more, please use our feedback form to get in touch. 03/07/2008 - No Paintball Range! We are sorry to report that the Army have decided NOT to bring their paintball range to the Festival. Instead it will be used at another event in London. We apologise to those looking forward to having a go at this attraction. 26/06/2008 - High Street East performances This year, in addition to the Bandstand line up we have two performance areas on High Street, one at each end of the closed section. Latest line up looks like this, but in the nature of these things may change on the day!
26/06/2008 - Thanks to the SMD Fund! Latest good news as the Festival approaches is that we've been awarded a grant of £1000 from the SMD Fund a local charity funded by SMD in Walker. Many thanks to them and all our sponsors20/06/2008 - DIFFERENT SPACES/DIFFERENT SOUNDS VISITS WALLSEND FESTIVAL 2008 Gone are the days when choreographers showcase their work exclusively in conventional theatres and dance halls. One dance company capitalising on this concept is North East-based DoraFrankelDance. They are quite literally bringing dance to the people by delivering a programme of challenging contemporary dance in locations more accustomed to peoples day-to-day lives, for example, the local park, shopping centre and art gallery. The creative style has been described as Flamenco meets Space Odyssey. Different Spaces/Different Sounds oozes with the passion and excitement generated between two artists from different disciplines: Soloist Daniel Walters (UK, trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance)and Tyneside-based cellist Penny Callow. The piece is a duet for cello and dance inspired and created especially for indoor and outdoor spaces. Different Spaces/Different Sounds is quirky, fun, beautiful, moving and unusual! The movement is brought to life by the use of new music composed by Penny Callow as she interweaves the composition with more familiar music. Painting the scene the creative relationship between light and sound gracefully combines to take the audience on a journey into dance and music that will be performed in obscure locations across the North East. Different Spaces/Different Sounds will also include the dance skills of Dora Frankel (choreographer and artistic director of DoraFrankelDance). Dora will perform briefly by interacting with dancer [Daniel Walters] and cello [Penny Callow] in surprising ways!
Dora Frankel, artistic director and choreographer for DoraFrankelDance, said: "I really want people to enjoy, be moved and surprised by this piece. Different Spaces/Different Sounds is easily accessible to everyone willing to open just a little part of their heart, mind and soul to dance." Dora adds: "The variety between dance, music and the unusual spaces being used in Different Spaces/Different Sounds provides us with the opportunity to meet and dance for people who dont usually associate themselves with dance. I want people who are out and about to stumble upon our piece and enable contemporary dance to play a part in their day." "I'm really pleased our final summer performances of Different Spaces/Different Sounds will be staged at the Wallsend Festival, especially as I live and work in Wallsend, a place I've called home for over 5 years. It's great to see so many fun and exciting events taking place as part of the Festival, it should be a wonderful occasion for all involved." The Wallsend Festival: John Fleet, Festival Organiser at North Tyneside Council, said: "The visit of DoraFrankelDance is an intrinsic part of this year's Festival. I'm really looking forward to seeing the reaction of fascinated shoppers as some of them experience contemporary dance for the first time." John adds: "In its eighth year we are trying to make Wallsend Festival the most daring yet. We want to show people there's a lot more to Wallsend than they might first think. The Festival is all about local people celebrating what is good about Wallsend, past present and future... and most of all it's a recipe for having fun and putting Wallsend well and truly on the map." 20/06/2008 - Final preparations in hand Organisers are putting the finishing touches to this year's Festival programme. You can view the programme online elsewhere on this site and 7,000 copies are currently being distributed. Late changes since the programme went to press include: Sadly Pe Na Rua won't be with us but instead we are looking foraward to Tribe Zuza with exotic and energetic dance and the ever popular Chinese Lion Dance group - both appearing on Wallsend High Street East. 21/04/2008 - Hadrian Trust adds its support to the Festival Organisers of the Wallsend Festival are delighted to acknowledge a grant of £500 from the Hadrian Trust to support this year's Festival. Plans are proceeding well for this year's Festival - with many stallholders booked already and a number of acts confirmed for the Bandstand. Watch this space for the latest news!03/03/2008 - Grant aid from the R W Mann Trust Further good news for the Wallsend Festival. We have been awarded a grant of £2000 from the R W Mann Trust. This is in addition to the earlier grant from the Sir James Knott Trust.21/02/2008 - Sir James Knott Trust helps out the Festival Organisers of the Wallsend Festival are delighted to announce that long time supporter, the Sir James Knott Trust have awarded a grant of £750 towards the costs of this year's Festival. The Festival relies on the generosity of a range of funders each year to make the event possible and with their help we plan to make 2008 the biggest and best Festival to date.06/02/2008 - Plans for 2008's Festival progressing well Organisers of the annual Wallsend Festival are hard at work to make the 2008 event - culminating in Festival Saturday July 5th the biggest and best Festival to date. We are always keen to hear from anyone who'd like to be involved, whether as a stallholder, entertainer or getting involved in the planning and organisation of the event. So if you think Wallsend has much to celebrate why not get in touch and help to ensure that the eighth Wallsend Festival is indeed the best yet!18/09/2007 - Help us to plan the 2008 Festival! Organisers of the Wallsend Festival are keen to hear from any community groups and organisations in the Wallsend area, who may have ideas or suggestions for next year's event. The 2008 Festival will be the eighth to be held in the town and the Festival Association are keen to make it the biggest and best yet. 'The Festival is there to celebrate all that's good in Wallsend, past, present and future' said a spokesperson, 'and we're keen to involve as many sections of the community as possible, new members are always welcome at our planning meetings, but if you can't make one of the meetings we'd still like to hear your thoughts and suggestions. You can contact us via the feedback form on this site or by phone on 0191 200 5733 during office hours.' 20/07/2007 - 2007 Photos now on line If you missed the Wallend Festival, why not visit our gallery section and see what the Festival was all about!10/07/2007 - Thanks for coming! Well that's the Festival over for another year! Thankfully Saturday turned out to be a mostly dry and sunny day with the only heavy shower starting just as the churches came onto the bandstand! Overall a very successful event and we're already making preliminary plans for next year. Festival Saturday will be Saturday July 5th so put the date in your diaries now! Any comments, feedback or suggestions welcome via our feedback form. Thanks to all who took part and for everyone who came; we hope thatyou enjoyed the Festival. See you next year! 06/07/2007 - all set for Saturday! Well Festival Week is now well underway with a great concert at the Civic Hall on Wednesday night and a facinating talk at the Library on Thursday. Final preparations are now in hand for Saturday- the fun starts at 10.00 am and the weather forecast is looking reasonably promising. We've a full lineup of stalls both inside and outside the Forum to complement all the other activiities detailed in the programme - which is widely available throughout the town centre as well as being online on this site. Look out for our very own Roman legionnaires as they parade through the town led by Centurian Maximus 15/05/2007 - Sir James Knott Trust grant The Sir James Knott Trust have given a grant of 750 to this year's Festival. This brings the total charitable support to nearly 5k and ensures that we have the necessary funding in place to deliver a splendid community festival culminating in Festival Saturday, July 7th23/04/2007 - Port of Tyne aids Festival Organisers of this year's Wallsend Festival are delighted to acknowledge a further grant, again of 2,000 from the Port of Tyne Fund. This grant together with previously acknowledged donations will help to ensure that this year's Festival will be the biggest and best yet.01/03/2007 - Grant from R W Mann Trust Organisers of this year's Wallsend Festival are delighted to acknowledge a very generous grant of 2000 from the R W Mann Trust, which is a locally based Trust for the North East Community. This is the second consecutive year that the trust have helped fund the Festival and their generosity will help ensure that this year's Festival is our best yet!22/01/2007 - Stallholder applications invited Applications are now being taken for the 2007 Festival. Stalls (inside or outside) are priced at 35 for the day. You can download an application from from the link on the right of this screen.05/07/2006 - That's it folks! Well the Festival is over for another year. Great weather contributed to a really excellent Festival Saturday and we hope that if you were a visitor, you enjoyed your day. Let us know what you thought about the Festival using our feedback form; if you've any ideas or suggestions as to how we could make next year's event even bigger and better we'd especially like to hear from you. And of course, if you'd like to get involved with the planning and organisation of the 2007 event - which starts immediately, then why not join the Festival Association and get stuck in! We're a very friendly bunch and you'll be helping to really put a smile on the town's face. 22/06/2006 - Stallholders interest at record levels With just over a week to go, stallholders applications to take part in the Festival are still coming in. All outside stalls are let and the inside Forum stalls are selling well too. Click the stallholders tab on the front page to see who's coming.16/06/2006 - Live music at the Bandstand We're delighted to announce that we will, after all, be having live music on the Bandstand on Festival Saturday Our line up presently looks as follows: 11.00 Wallsend Churches and the Salvation Army 12.00 Northumberland Fayre 13.00 The Bill Elliott Band 14.00 Northumberland Fayre 15.00 Captain Bob 31/05/2006 - WALLSENDS FUTURE STARS POINT TO MECCA! This years Wallsend Festival will feature 15 stars of the future at a free music show. The Talent Star Extravaganza music show will take place at the Mecca Bingo Hall, Wallsend on Saturday 1st July from 4.00-5.30pm and will feature some of the best singers and performers from the local area. The show is being organised by Talent Star, a North East-based social enterprise that organizes schools-based competitions to promote the UKs young music talents. The 90 minute one-off set will feature a wide range of styles of music including two local acts that are in this summers Talent Star Regional Final. The festival organizers believe that there will be something for everyones music tastes. The two local regional finalists from Burnside Business and Enterprise College, include Georgia B who will sing classic songs from the shows. She will be joined by fellow finalists The Union who are to rap their own version of the latest dance tracks. Rosalind Elliott, Assistant Headteacher at Burnside Business and Enterprise College said: "Ive had the luxury of seeing some of the performers first hand through the Talent Star programme at Burnside College. I know that they have the X factor!" Meccas Wallsend Manager Chris Robson said that the Talent Star Extravaganza was a great chance for local young people to show off their abilities to the wider community. Mecca Bingo is donating their venue and facilities to the festival free of charge. Chris Robson said: "We are delighted that The Mecca Bingo theatre can contribute to this years Wallsend Festival. Our venue has been a longstanding part of the community since it was used as the Ritz Cinema in the 1930s and we wanted to do all we could to help. Im sure that regular bingo-goers will agree that the theatre will make a great music venue. We look forward seeing residents of all ages share the performances of our future stars." The free performance will take place at Mecca Bingo, on High Street West in Wallsend from 4.00-5.30pm on Saturday 1st July. Tickets will be available from: Burnside Business and Enterprise College, Mecca Bingo, Greenwoods Alternatively you can order your tickets by telephone from John Fleet on 0191 2005733. and Segedunum Computer Services in Wallsend.31/05/2006 - Programme 2006 out shortly Details of all that's happening at this year's Festival are contained in our programme. It is currently being printed, but you can have preview it on line by clicking the Programme tab at the top of this screen.04/05/2006 - Paintball fun at the Festival The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers will be bringing their giant inflatable paint ball range to the Wallsend Festival on Saturday July 1st. The range will be sited in the car park opposite the town hall. Would be paintballers won't be able to miss the range - it's massive - 30 m x 20 m and about 15' high! and will occupy the entire car park. The range will be just one of many attractions for all the family on Festival Saturday with the ever popular Children's fairground happening on the nearby Coronation Club car park 21/04/2006 - More grant success for the WFA! Following the recent awards of grants from the Community Foundation and the R W Mann Trust, we're delighted to announce that we've received a further grant of 750 from the Sir James Knott Trust. This will help ensure that this year's Festival is a truly memorable occasion so watch this space for more news as we get nearer to Festival Day. Our Wallsend Waggonway Walk is due to go to the printers shortly and we still have some spaces left for stallholders. More buskers and street entertainers are being actively sought, so please get in touch if you have any ideas or contacts for us to follow up 11/04/2006 - Rooting for us! Following our successful application to the Community Chest, the WFA are delighted to announce that Rooted UK have been appointed to handle press and P.R. for this year's Festival. Rooted are a not for profit company working to raise the profileof organisations like ourselves. Neil Foster, their Project Manager will be working with us over the next couple of months to really put the Festival on the map, so look out for coverage in the local press shortly!07/04/2006 - Grant success for the Wallsend Festival Association The WFA is delighted to announce the receipt of two grants to support the costs of this year's Festival. We have received the sum of 1000 from the RW Mann Trust, the first time that this local charity has supported our work. And we've now been awarded 2,000 by the Community Foundation, who have been a long time supporter of the WFA. Thanks to their help and monies from Finford Property on behalf of the Forum Shopping Centre and a grant from North Tyneside Council's town centres management office, we are able to press ahead with plans for this year's Festival. Watch out for more news here 15/02/2006 - Buskers sought! Plans are proceeding well for this year's Festival. We won't be having the traditional bandstand partly due to possible redevelopment at the Forum shopping centre. Instead we hope to have more spontaneous street entertainment throughout the town centre. So if you know of any good buskers that would like to take part in this great community event, then please get in touch! - you can use the feedback form on this site or call John Fleet on 0191 200 5733 or email john.fleet@northtyneside.gov.uk 21/10/2005 - Date set for 2006 Festival The 2006 Wallsend Festival will be held on Saturday July 1st. Organisers are at the early stages of planning the event, which for 2006 will adopt the theme of Waggonways - waggonways were the forerunners of today's railways and used to carry coal from local pits down to waiting ships on the Tyne. Many of these historic routes run through Wallsend. The Festival committee would like to hear from any community groups who'd like to take part in celebrating all that's good in Wallsend, past, present and future. Call Festival Chair John Fleet on 0191 200 5733 for more information. 20/06/2005 - Programme now out! The Festival Programme is now out! Copies are available from libraries and other public buildings throughout the town, and of course you can read it online by either clicking on the Programme tab at the top of this page, or clicking on the photo montage on this page20/06/2005 - Fun and games at the Bingo Hall! Tyne and Wear Museums Craft Activities Saturday 2 July 10am-4pm Mecca Bingo Come along to the Mecca Bingo foyer and join in with some fun craft activities with artist Sharon Wilson, play a giant games of snakes and ladders and see and hold some real historical objects! There will also be a display of art work recently made by members of the North Tyneside community. There'll also be an opportunity during the morning to see inside the hall which still retains many of its equipment from its former life as the Ritz cinema. No booking needed 02/06/2005 - Festival 2005 programme The programme for the 2005 Wallsend Festival is now at the printers. We'll be posting it on the Programme section shortly; in the meantime you can download a copy from the downloads section on the front page20/05/2005 - Geordie Night at the Mem An exciting new event this year, will be a Geordie Night at the Wallsend Memorial Hall. It promises to be a great evening and tickets will be going on sale shortly priced at only 3 The programme will feature the popular Border Directors band with music, songs, and ceilidh dancing, to get you into the swing of things. There'll be performances from the Addison Rapper and Clog Dance Team and popular Geordie storyteller Bob Bolam will be holding the evening together. Asa further bonus we're planning a lucky ticket draw so you could find yourself winning a mini cruise to Amsterdam or a year's free admission to Segedunum, as well as enjoying a great night of entertainment. So book this date in your diary now - 7.30pm, Saturday July 2nd and make sure that you're there for what promises to be a memorable night at the Mem. Tickets will be on sale shortly and are expected to be available in advance from Segedunum, the Buddle and the People's Centre. Tickets will also be on sale on the day. 27/04/2005 - Treasure Island at the Buddle In keeping with the nautical theme adopted for this year's Festival, in recognition of the return of the Tall Ships to the Tyne as well as the Trafalgar bicentenary, the Buddle Arts Centre will be hosting a production of 'TREASURE ISLAND. Performed by the Bruvvers, Treasure Island is one of the worlds best loved novels. In our play all the elements of this perfect adventure yarn are there. A lost map and a search for buried treasure; an engaging hero in young Jim Hawkins and a cunning villain in Long John Silver; mutiny and murder on the high seas; and of course, a safe return to England and a happy ending!' 15/04/2005 - Grants are coming in! The WFA has been awarded grants of 2094 and 400 respectively from the Community Chest and the North Tyneside Small Grants Scheme. The Community Chest money will be used to support a project working with local schoolchildren to produce costumes and banners with a nautical theme ready for our Festival Parade on July 2nd. We are very grateful for these generous grants. 09/03/2005 - Happy Cats to play the Festival Popular geordie band the Happy Cats, led by ex Lindisfarne star Marty Craggs have been confirmed as the headline act for this year's Festival. Also in the line up are jazz band the Groovediggers, and local club act Two Become One. Local churches are also expected to take a slot and at least one of the bands taking part in the Parade will take another. But there's still space for one or two others. So if you are in, or can recommend, a band who might be suitable then get in touch! Contact John Fleet on 0191 200 5733 to find out more 08/02/2005 - Calling all stallholders! We're now taking bookings for stalls for the Festival. Preference will be given to craft stalls and we have space for up to 35 stalls. For more details call our stalls supremo, Ylana First on 0191 257 218027/01/2005 - Take part in our Parade! Plans are now well in hand for this year's Festival. The Festival committee would particularly welcome participation in this year's Festival Parade which will adopt a maritime theme to reflect the imminent arrival of the Tall Ships to the river. For more information, call 0191 200 5733 14/12/2004 - Plans advance for the 2005 Festival The organising committee has now met twice to begin the work of planning the 2005 Wallsend Festival, to be held in the week leading up to Saturday July 2nd. We've decided to adopt a maritime theme for the Parade, recognising the wider celebrations that will be taking part throughout the North Tyneside area in preparation for the return of the Tall Ships later in the month. At this early stage we're keen to hear from any groups or individuals who'd like to take part in the Festival, so please get in touch by phoning 0191 200 5733, if you'd like to learn more. 01/07/2004 - Festival opening Swan Hunter's boss Jaap Kroese has kindly agreed to open the Festival Saturday at 10.00 am. We also expect to welcome the Chair and Consort of North Tyneside Council. See the programme page for full details of all that's happening in Festival week. 30/04/2004 - Bandstand line up confirmed We now have a full line up
of live music on the Bandstand for Festival Saturday, July 10th.
Acts taking part will include Off the Wall, the Bill Elliott Band,
the Lou Band, Indigo Colony, Wallsend Churches and two marching
bands. The entertainment starts immediately after the Festival opens
at 10 am. Full details to follow shortly 01/04/2004 - WFA awarded grant We are delighted to announce that the WFA have been awarded
a grant of over £4,000 from the Community Chest towards the
costs of this year's festival. 16/09/2003 - 2004 dates agreed Following the review of the 2003 Festival the dates for 2004 have now been agreed. Festival Saturday will be July 10th. Detailed planning is yet to take place but we are very keen to hear from any groups in Wallsend who'd like to take part. In particular we'd like to hear from groups who'd be interested in taking part in the Parade, perhaps with a float or other display, and any groups who'd like to perform at the Festival. Expenses can be paid; so please get in touch - if you live or work in Wallsend it's YOUR Festival! 09/07/2003 - Spookymedia postphoned. Due to pressure of time the Spookymedia event due to take place
at the Buddle this Saturday night has been postphoned to a later
date - probably in August. We'll publish details of the new date/time
when we have them. 03/07/2003 - BBC Blue Bus coming to the Festival The BBC have confirmed that the will be bringing the Blue Bus to the Forum on Festival Saturday July 12th. The afternoon show will go out live between 1pm and 3pm from the bus which will be parked up just behind the bandstandwith grandstand views of all that's happening during the day. 30/06/2003 - Festival awarded grant The Festival is delighted to report that we have been awarded a grant from the P&G Foundation; this latest grant is the fourth that we have received this year and will help to ensure that the Festival this year will be the best ever. Stallholders at the Festival - to see the latest list of confirmed stallholders click on the stallholders tab 25/06/2003 - Bill Elliott Band to play the Bandstand. In a change to the printed programme the Bill Elliott Band will now open the Bandstand programme at 10 am instead of the Wallsend Town Band who are unable to appear. Latest update on the display area: in addition to the vintage buses and other vehicles etc listed in the programme we are now expecting a display by the Army cadets, a plant stall from Complete Growth and a very large Boot (which will be a cunningly disguised children's slide!) We are also hoping to have a group of African Dancers appearing at the People's Centre at 12 noon and then also inside the Forum at 3pm 04/06/2003 - Live music line up The full Bandstand live music line up has been announced - see the programme page for details together with the activities planned inside the Forum Shopping Centre.Look out for a wacky clock making making workshop at the the Craft market. The Parade route has been agreed with the police and will leave Segedunum at Ipm making its way up Park Road, along Hight Street East and up to the Buddle returning along Station Road. If your group would like to be involved there's still time to get in touch. Segedunum's display area will play host to loads of displays - too many to list here now but watch out for details nearer the time. |
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Future Meetings |
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Wallsend Festival 2012 - Planning Meeting |