A special reunion is taking place this evening. The event, at the Billingham Arms Hotel, in Billingham, is an unashamed nostalgia-fest, with posters proclaiming that the night is exclusively for the over-30s and promising visitors the chance to relive the music and atmosphere of the sixties and seventies.

The night coincides with the 40th anniversary of the opening of the Club Fiesta, in Stockton.

Many of the faces who helped turned this little corner of Teesside into a hub of the Swinging Sixties will be there. Missing, of course, will be the stars.

But then looking at the calibre of the performers who graced the stage of the Fiesta over the years, today you'd probably have to re-mortgage your house to get them back.

The Beach Boys, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Marvin Gaye are just some of the names, which reads like the Music Hall of Fame.

Co-founder Keith Lipthorpe will be at tonight's event. He said: "It didn't take off straight away. For the first year we were booking acts and losing money. When Shirley Bassey played here in the early days we lost £2,000.

"I think the turning point was when Dusty Springfield played here 14 months after we opened - then I realised it was going to be a success."

Keith started the club with his brother Jim, who died recently.

A keen trumpet player and a regular on the local music scene, Keith, 72, realised there were no venues offering the kind of facilities needed to lure the big-name stars to the area.

He said: "I thought if we can make the place really plush inside then the stars will want to come and play there, and fortunately the gamble paid off."

The club's luxurious interior featured a wine and cheese bar, restaurant and cocktail bar as well as seating for 250 around the main stage.

Artists were booked to play there every night of the week, with three cabaret performances a night.

The club hired a group of long-legged beauties, nicknamed the Fiesta Fawns, to wait at tables.

Ms Whyte and Lynn Horsman are two former fawns. Ms Whyte said: "Of course you knew the reason why you'd been hired. When I went for my interview they asked me to lift my skirt up and show them my legs.

"But it was very exciting, meeting the stars. My favourite was Tommy Cooper. He'd stay back drinking into the early hours after his gig. He was so funny, but a real gentleman with it."

The party ended in the late 1970s when Keith sold off his share and the venue's name was changed. Today, a Pentecostal Church stands on the site.

Trevor Walton, DJ at tonight's event was the stage manager at the Fiesta.

He said: "Anyone you speak to who went there can remember who they saw and what it was like. It was just that kind of place."

For tickets for tonight's event, call Lynne Dunning, at Select Promotions, on 0845 128 4384 or 07957 632216.