Ballroom glitz: 100 years of Blackpool Dance Festival

6 March 2020

1pm, Saturday 23 May 2020, Grand Foyer

Rebecca Antrobus, Showtown’s Assistant Curator, will take you on a glorious waltz through time, right back to the creation of the oldest and most famous competitive dance event, the Blackpool Dance Festival.Using archive footage and exploring the stories of the people behind its creation and huge success, this talk will explain why Blackpool is so significant within the world of dance.

So grab your favourite dance partner and get yourself down to the Winter Gardens.

Tickets £3.
Booking is essential

SPECIAL OFFER: Why not head in early for a film? Get a ticket to this talk and see Hindle Wakes (1952) in the Art Deco Opera House at 11am (12:30pm finish) for just £2 extra.

Hindle Wakes

Year: 1952
Running Time: 1 hour 30 mins
Director: Arthur Crabtree
Genre: Romance, Drama

11am – 12:30pm, The Opera House

This is the the fourth (and last) screen adaptation of the famous Stanley Houghton play of the 1910s. During a seaside holiday to Blackpool, mill worker Jenny meets Alan the son of the mill owner and agrees to spend the week with him in Llandudno.

Wanting to keep this a secret from her parents, Jenny gets help from her friend Mary to conceal her whereabouts, but disaster strikes during a boating accident. When the parents find out the truth they pressure the couple to get married, but Jenny thinks otherwise.

Hindle Wakes’ true star is Blackpool. You’ll see a number of familiar (and since lost) locations such as the Pleasure Beach, Tower and South Shore Open Air Baths and take a nostalgic trip back in time to the Winter Gardens of the 1950s, where you can see the Empress Ballroom, Floral Hall and Grand Foyer in all their glory.

Watch out for the Lancashire mill-workers speaking in cut-glass RP tones

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Need to book by phone? Please call 01253 478624.

Blackpool Dance Festival runs from 21 – 29 May celebrating and celebrates its centenary this year. To find out more about the festival visit: www.blackpooldancefestival.com