Happy Birthday Washington - Wearside town celebrates 60th anniversary

Hundreds of people have turned out to celebrate a Wearside town turning 60 in a festival style event.

Washington gained its status as a new town in 1964, and on Saturday 20 July held a festival style celebration to mark the occasion.

The town's official birthday is not until Wednesday 24.

Music, performances, and family activities were all part of the celebrations on the town's Northern Area Playing Fields.

Local musicians Martin Stephenson and the Daintees headlined the event, with Smoove and Turrell and The Revolutionaires also providing performances.

There was a second stage on which community groups could showcase their work, and and exhibitor tent where Washington-based organisations have been telling the story of Washington past and present.

It is just one part of the anniversary celebrations. TV architect George Clarke, who is from the town, launched a special design competition for school children to come up with their own vision of what they would like the community to look like for the next 60 years.

The Washington Area Heritage Partnership has been collecting peoples early memories of the town and creating memory boxes with memorabilia from the 1960s.

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