Dear Editor
On behalf of Great Aycliffe Town Council I am pleased to announce a brand new community event, planned for next year.  It will be named Great Aycliffe Festival and will replace the annual Great Aycliffe Show.
The Festival will last for ten days, encompassing two weekends, with provisional dates for next year being Friday 3rd to Sunday 12th July 2015, which will hopefully enable schools to become involved
Unfortunately, attendance at Great Aycliffe Show has dropped in recent years, often as a result of bad weather, which has also led to the cancellation of main arena displays and acts, sometimes at considerable financial cost and disappointment.  The decision was therefore taken to make this year the final Great Aycliffe Show and replace it with something more contemporary and versatile and not restricted to just two days.
The concept of the Great Aycliffe Festival is to encourage a whole range of new and exciting local community events – fun days, open days, coffee mornings, concerts, sports competitions etc, all aimed at involving children and adults in a ten-day community celebration with something for everyone.  Any organiser who would like to hold an event during this time will have the opportunity to apply for potential financial assistance from the Town Council, especially if this will help to make their event bigger and better.
Some of the popular original features of the Great Aycliffe Show, such as the Football Tournament, dancing displays and some of the competitions, will be retained and, combined with community-hosted events, it is hoped there will be a mixture of indoor and outdoor activities, which are not quite so dependent on good weather.
An open evening will be held at the Youth Centre, Central Avenue, Newton Aycliffe on both Monday 11th August and Thursday 14th August 2014 at 6pm for local groups, organisations, businesses and individuals to come along and discuss their possible involvement with the Festival – for further information, contact Great Aycliffe Town Council 01325 300700 or e-mail marie.robinson@great-aycliffe.gov.uk
Cllr Bob Fleming
Leader of the Council