This amateur documentary with some commentary records The Lord Mayor's grand parade to inaugurate the Newcastle Festival of 1971. It was commissioned from the Newcastle Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) by the Tyneside Junior Chamber of Commerce (TJCC). The film opens with a still of a festival sticker that reads “the Festival’s for people like you! Newcastle Festival Sept 17 – Oct 17”. Parade floats and bands begin to assemble in the University and Haymarket areas of...

This amateur documentary with some commentary records The Lord Mayor's grand parade to inaugurate the Newcastle Festival of 1971. It was commissioned from the Newcastle Amateur Cinematographers Association (ACA) by the Tyneside Junior Chamber of Commerce (TJCC). The film opens with a still of a festival sticker that reads “the Festival’s for people like you! Newcastle Festival Sept 17 – Oct 17”. Parade floats and bands begin to assemble in the University and Haymarket areas of Newcastle upon Tyne for a grand procession through the city centre to launch the month long Newcastle Festival 1971.  A festival float carrying a banquet table and people dressed in medieval costume prepares for the parade. A photographer stands in front of the Student Union Building at Newcastle University taking pictures. The men and women in medieval costume laugh and chat on their float before the start of the parade. Brass band musicians in uniform mingle with the crew of another float. A small group in fancy dress includes men in drag, whilst, in the background, another brass band, dressed in red uniforms, are assembling. A man adjusts the display on a decorated trade float for Tudor Crisps: the company’s advertising slogan is “Look for the pack with the fun on the back.” Young women on the Youngers Tartan Special Ale float are dressed in mini tartan kilts and slogan T-Shirts (advertising “The Geordie Thing”). A woman in pink hot pants waits on the Tyneside Junior Chamber of Commerce (TJCC) float. A group of men and women scribbling in notebooks are local Tyneside personalities judging the floats. A regional reporter with a sound recorder and microphone interviews a police officer on duty. Draymen are preparing the horses pulling the Lord Mayor’s official coach, which is to bring up the rear of the procession. People taking part in the parade assemble in preparation for the event, some in costume. Floats include the traditional Vaux Brewery horse-drawn delivery dray, and a Rington’s Tea horse-drawn carriage. Two fashionable young women with vanity cases saunter across the waiting area, beauty contestants on one of the trade floats. The Lord Mayor’s coach is driven off by liveried draymen to take its place in the parade line-up. As the parade is about to commence, spectators at the foot of the South Africa War Memorial, at the junction of Barras Bridge and St. Mary’s Place, to the north of Haymarket, include a Newcastle ACA cameraman and his female assistant. Judges are seated and waiting on a small platform beside the parade route on Barras Bridge. A brass band dressed in red uniforms leads the parade past the statue of Lord Armstrong on Barras Bridge by the sculptor William Hamo Thornycroft. The judges, including a woman in big Jackie O bug eye sunglasses, are laughing together on their platform, the Civic Centre in the background. (The blonde-haired woman judge may be Valerie Dennis from Tyne Tees Television.) General view of crowds of spectators lining the route as the procession heads from Claremont Road onto Barras Bridge. The judges enjoy the colourful spectacle. The horse-drawn float for Youngers Tartan Special Ale passes by. The parade then heads past the C&A department store on Northumberland Street. Back on Barras Bridge, the Tyneside Junior Chamber of Commerce (TJCC) float drives by carrying young women dressed in 70s fashions. Two young beauty queens ride on a float advertising “solid fuel” and “living fire”. Its rear end displays the slogan “Follow us to Northumbria Holiday Kingdom of King Coal”. A model of the Tyne Bridge is carried on another float. The Rington’s carriage drives past spectators outside C&A on Northumberland Street. Three skinny young men wearing fancy dress, including one dressed as a Roman soldier, pass by the Callers-Pegasus travel store. More trade floats drive by Jackson the Tailor on Northumberland Street. Still in Haymarket, a replica of "The Rocket" steam engine drives by. A music hall Edwardian gent and lady stand on another float. Next, a float for La Dolce Vita and Club Cavendish, full of trendy young clubbers, advertises Miss Night Club of Great Britain. The TJCC float drives towards the Odeon Cinema building on Pilgrim Street. A brass band (possibly Boys Brigade?) now leads the parade up Northumberland Street. Back at Barras Bridge, the Lord Mayor’s coach drives by, the Lady Mayoress waving to the crowd. A van with a loud speaker system follows. Shot of a large Northern Rock Building Society branch. Shot of the young women on the Tyneside Junior Chamber of Commerce (TJCC) float. High angle view of the parade heading past Grey’s Monument looking down Grey Street. The brass band in red uniforms pass a cinema advertising the John Wayne movie "Big Jake" with Maureen O'Hara, possibly the ABC Haymarket Cinema on Percy Street. Various floats then continue on the parade around the city centre. The Wright's Biscuits trade float with its banner proclaiming: "What's Heor Geordie Wright's Ginger Nuts" pauses. Close-up of a folk musician playing an accordion. A band of folk musicians, including a fiddler, accompany Morris dancers performing for the crowd. The trade floats are assembled across the road from the Civic Centre to hear the judges’ decision. The winner is announced, with first prize going to “Historic Promotions”. There are shots of people now relaxing on their floats, including beauty queens on the “Miss Night Club of Great Britain” float. The Vaux Brewery delivery cart waits opposite the Civic Centre. Inside Newcastle Civic Centre, the Lord Mayor and junior members of the Chamber of Commerce enjoy a drinks reception at the festival launch. The film closes with a shot of the Civic Centre with carillon. Title and credit: The festival’s for people like you! The Newcastle and District Amateur Cinematographers’ Association