The time a County Durham village was taken over by a large-scale music event thought to be one of the region's first outdoor pop concerts has been remembered. 

The year was 1964, and the location was Gainford, County Durham, between Barnard Castle and Darlington.

Remembering when Gainford hosted an outdoor concert:

Local group from Spennymoor The DownbeatsLocal group from Spennymoor The Downbeats (Image: IAN WRIGHT) With the big bands of the 1960s making it to the top of the charts, there was a real emphasis on live music - and a field outside Gainford hosted this particular event. 

According to The Northern Echo photographer at the time, Ian Wright, the event would become the forerunner of today's sold-out stadium events and set the tone for the coming decades. 

Drummer Norman Kuhlke is embraced by a middle aged fanDrummer Norman Kuhlke is embraced by a middle aged fan (Image: IAN WRIGHT) Ian has kindly shared some images of the event in Gainford, which show images of the festival, which featured Liverpool group 'The Swinging Blue Jeans' as top of the bill, as they performed hits including 'Hippy Hippy Shake', 'Good Golly Miss Molly'', and You're No Good'.

Further down the line-up was local group from Spennymoor The Downbeats, featuring Ken Potts, Don Aston, Alan White, Rob Horsman on organ and Dave Rayne.

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Meanwhile, they were supported by the Darlington group The Concordes.

According to Ian: "The stage and full BBQ supper was held under marquees in a farmer's field. The brainchild of Jimmy Wilson, a reason to raise funds for the Zetland Hunt.

"Numbers varied, 600 tickets were sold, and because of the event being located in the field there were many gatecrashers."

Thanks to Ian Wright for kindly sharing these images with us, and allowing us to share them with our readers - hopefully they bring back happy memories for people.