Astounding film footage of first Brighton Festival discovered

See extracts in our 50th Brighton Festival film

Film footage of the very first Brighton Festival in 1967 has been discovered in an attic. The long lost material, shot by former Brighton College of Art students Ian Beck and Tim Grimes, captures the inaugural festival’s many different events alongside behind the scenes footage. 

You can enjoy extracts of this historic and unique footage in our latest Brighton Festival video (watch above). Made by Echo Video, with Ian Beck and Tim Grimes’ original footage and featuring footage from Screen archive South East. With voiceover from Spymonkey's Toby Park.

Ian Beck says ‘In 1967 we were encouraged by Tom Buckeridge, head of photography at Brighton College of Art, to make a record of the first Brighton Festival. We were handed two Bolex 16 mm cameras and some film stock and we were more or less left to run wild to film what we were interested in… so we did!’

Historical gems uncovered in the 100 minutes of silent film include footage of a young Eric Clapton playing with Cream in Brighton Dome, early robotic works from acclaimed artist and eccentric Bruce Lacey, and an International baseball game held between England and the United States of America.

Ian Beck explains ‘We all thought the film was lost. Tim Grimes, my fellow worker on the film, was cleaning out an attic and found several rusty tins in which was the original untouched negatives. It was quite the find. We then had them digitised, although it’s mute because the sound recordings are still lost!’

Also captured is the frantic moment Keith Moon destroys his drum kit following a concert by The Who and the intriguingly titled Destruction of Hideous Objects; a large bonfire on the beach comprised of discarded furniture and art pieces.

Ian Beck continues ‘We were allowed to film anywhere. We shot both John Dankworth and Georgie Fame rehearsing at Brighton Dome. We seemed to have access to all sorts of things and we filmed everything and everyone without anyone turning their head and asked ‘what are you doing? We don’t want you filming this!’ These were relaxed times I suppose you say!’

Brighton Festival marks its milestone 50th year in 2016 with the pioneering artist and musician Laurie Anderson as its Guest Director. Established in 1967, Brighton Festival has become one of the city's most enduring symbols of inventiveness and celebration over the past half century. Renowned for its pioneering spirit and experimental reputation, Brighton Festival’s inaugural programme controversially included the first ever exhibition of Concrete Poetry in the UK, alongside performances by Laurence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins and Yehudi Menuhin.