A BRIEF HISTORY

STALYBRIDGE FESTIVAL LOGO THE MUSIC MAN

The Stalybridge Festival was born in the nineteen seventies with the first carnival parade taking place in 1976. The idea of a Festival arose from meetings of the local Youth and Community Group, where complaints" that nothing ever happens in Stalybridge" were voiced. Following notices published in the local Salybridge Reporter, asking for people intrested in coming forward to get involved, a committee was formed, and the Stalybridge Festival was started.

Thirty years on, the Stalybridge Festival Committee continues to provide their annual Carnival for the people of Stalybridge and surrounding towns.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

In 1980 the Stalybridge Festival Committee were invited to Armentieres, Stalybridge's twin town in Northen France and we formed a strong bond of friendship with the Committee of their carnival, the Fete des Nieulles. The International connection continues to thrive with regular annual exchange visits between our two carnival Committees. Our French counterparts visit our Carnival in June and take part in our Carnival Parade and our Carnival Queens take part in their annual fete in Armentieres held in September.

CARNIVAL IN ARMENTIÈRES

The Fête des Nieulles is held annually in Armentières on the second Sunday of September. Its origins go back to the 16th century. In 1510, Duke Jacques of Luxembourg, lord of Armentières, gave a banquet in the town hall. Light biscuits called "nieulles" were served at the end of the meal. Some of these biscuits were thrown from the window of the banqueting hall to the crowd outside. Some guests took it into their head to pour water over the crowd, as they ran to pick up the biscuits. The Fête des Nieulles was celebrated each year to commemorate this event. At first it was held on the first Monday in May. As two o'clock struck, members of the town council appeared on the balcony of the town hall and threw out 3,000 biscuits to children gathered below. There was a general struggle amongst the children as to who could gather the most biscuits. While this was going on, the town's firemen approached to spray their hoses over the children. The men of the town then sought to defend the children by rubbing soot over the firemen's faces, thus making them an object of general ridicule. A huge crowd of spectators always gathered to watch this spectacle. This first version of the Fête des Nieulles was abolished in 1832. In 1938, the tradesmen of the town decided to revive the tradition. This time, the celebrations took the form of a magnificent procession through the streets of the town, after which the Nieulles Queen appeared on the balcony of the town hall to throw the biscuits to the crowd. Following a break during the Second World War, this form of the Fête was definitively revived in 1954, celebrating its 50th edition in 2003.