Washington gets ready to celebrate landmark birthday

The festival-style Washington 60 Celebration Day will take place on at the Northern Area Playing Fields from midday until 9pm and will feature a line up of live music, theatre, and fun activities related to Washington's past and present.

The Main Stage line up will be headlined by Washington's own Martin Stephenson and the Daintees, with further performances from Smoove and Turrell and The Revolutionaires.

Local acts and community groups including theatre, spoken word and acoustic music will take to a second stage throughout the day, and an exhibitor tent will house local organisations offering interactive experiences and activities.

The celebration is family friendly, and children's arts and crafts activities will be available throughout the event, including a drop in kite making workshop.

There will also be a wide range of food on offer including gyros, waffles, burgers, noodles and more and a bar on site all afternoon providing snacks and refreshments.

Washington officially celebrates the 60 years of being a new town on 24 July 2024, after first gaining the status back in 1964.

Chair of the Washington 60 Steering Group, Councillor Sean Laws, said: "We're less than a week away from the Washington 60 Celebration Day and looking forward to bringing together residents from Washington and further afield to celebrate a milestone anniversary for our town.

"This special anniversary will showcase the best of Washington's music and community groups and celebrate its past, present and future."

Washington 60 Celebration Day is just one event planned to celebrate Washington New Town's big birthday this year. Other highlights include:

• A special design competition for schoolchildren launched in November by TV architect George Clarke in the town where he grew up. This has seen young people from schools across Washington coming up with their own vision of an innovative super sustainable residential community for the next 60 years. 
• An oral history project led by Washington Area Heritage Partnership which aims to capture people's memories of the time leading up and during Washington New Town's early years. You can check out the growing collection here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAF76RKVACqidyDilbBa0OImt7QTUJNSx&si=D2paKFES3_a8FMMk
• Memory Box sessions for community groups which will see members of Washington Heritage Partnership visiting community groups armed with memory boxes full of 1960s memorabilia. 
• Washington 60: Rock and Coal will celebrate 60 years of Washington New Town as we take a look back at music and fashions from the 1960s to the 1980s.