Beeston Festival and Mela 2000

From the collection of

The Yorkshire Film Archive at York St John University save and celebrate screen heritage made in or about Yorkshire. They connect broad and diverse audiences to their cultural and socially significant collection that reflects the life, landscape, and identity of the people of the region since the 1890s. Together with their sister archive in the North East they form the Yorkshire and North East Film Archive, a unique pan-regional resource with over 75,000 moving image artefacts. They unlock the collections for artists, academics, curators, programmers, researchers, and producers to reveal compelling stories from the vaults. www.yfanefa.com

Beeston Festival and Mela 2000

Yorkshire Film Archive
Beeston Park Side
2000-06-25
Sound

A showcase for the diverse talents of a vibrant community who know how to celebrate their differences.

Beeston Hill has faced economic challenges for decades; however, around the time of the Millennium celebrations the local authority was offered funding support, as part of the European Communities Scheme, to help address some of the inequalities facing local people.

For community groups this was their time to shine, as evidenced by the strong voluntary sector presence in this video, highlighting the hard work which had already been taking place behind the scenes to address the challenges faced by this community.

Filmed by trainees on the Vera Media Community Video Course, a record of the Beeston Festival and Mela 2000 taking place inside Cross Flatts Park in Beeston. As well as views of the music and fair, there are interviews with some of those attending the festival, as well as members of the local community organisation who have stalls at the festival.

Looking at Beeston

Hope and community aspirations for a new millennium. A snapshot of the not-too-distant past shows how radically life has changed for one West Yorkshire community.

Beeston is an area of Leeds which has drawn unhappy international attention more than once in recent decades. Struggles with economic disadvantage, crime, drugs and derelict homes have created unbearable living conditions for some residents. But this is a community which has refused to be daunted by the scale of the challenge and has found imaginative ways to tackle its many problems. These videos provide evidence of the difference strategic funding can make at a grass roots level and the power of community action.