Dear Sir,
I feel compelled to speak up for a previous generation of Newtonians who may well have taken exception to your headline, “Aycliffe’s First Festival by the People for the People”.
Whilst it’s great to see a community working together to organise the events mentioned in the article, it is by no means the “First” that your headline suggests. Many of us over a certain age will recall the Festival Fortnights of old, organised by a committee of Aycliffe people, chaired (as I recall) by the late Chris Jaques.
There was then a rich diversity of local clubs and organisations of all age groups who would never fail to take part by holding a special event for the festival fortnight, and/or taking part in the carnival procession, which always took place on the last Saturday of the Festival. These events were generally well supported, perhaps reaching a peak in the mid to late 70’s.
Inevitably, things moved on. An ageing festival committee and a move towards new ideas heralded an event called “Aycliffe on Wheels”(anyone remember that?) and then the Great Aycliffe Show, which, though it; like the old festivals; had its detractors, remained a popular event for many years.
So, to get back to my point about the headline. Perhaps it should have read, “Aycliffe’s First Festival by the People for the People … for three decades”.
That said, may this latest venture rouse the community spirit as well as the old one for many years to come.
Geoff West
Editor: I dont’ think the Town Council forgot the original Town Festival and only meant to say this is the first Festival after the end of the Great Aycliffe Show.
We are grateful to Geoff for reminding us of those halcyon days and hope this new Festival will revive that same community spirit.