After 60 years, annual folklore festival is a diamond worth polishing

BILLINGHAM Town Centre is preparing for a £20m regeneration.

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Over half a century ago, the centre was being developed by the town’s urban district council to become a modern pedestrian mix of retail, leisure and public services.

Street entertainment was to be encouraged as part of the welcoming vibe.

Phil Conroy led a troupe of Irish dancers who enjoyed performing in the town. The Silksworth headteacher suggested to clerk to the council Fred Dawson that Billingham would make an ideal venue to recreate the folklore festivals he had toured overseas.

The first festival was held in the summer of 1965. Dancers from Austria, Estonia and Hungary would lead the way for over 20,000 performers, from 97 countries, from every continent to travel to a small industrial town in the north east of England for the next 60 years.