Taking place in August, the South Tyneside Summer Festival began in the late 1980s initially as a celebration of South Shields born writer Catherine Cookson. Originally entitled 'The Cookson Festival' it was a way for the area to capitalise on the authors popularity as well as acknowledge her achievements. In 2006 South Tyneside Council, who run the event made the decision to move away from the Cookson connection rebranding it the South Tyneside Summer Festival.

The Festival traditionally begins with a Mardi Gras style street parade from South Shields Town Hall to the coast and Bents Park where a Summer Fayre is held. Another high-light is four open-air concerts taking place inside Bents Park that over the years have attracted big name stars such as Jason Donovan, Atomic Kitten, Billy Ocean and local 'X-Factor' winner Joe McElderry. Sadly, 2013 saw the retirement of one of the festival's most popular entertainers; Tommy the Trumpeter played by Ray Spencer MBE who was the director the Custom's House, a local theatre venue.

"Forty-eight hours is just a moment in time in the social history of a nation. However, over 26 and 27 August 1988, the people of the North East England have produced a significant record of their lives, their time and their country." These are the words of HRH Prince Charles in his introduction to the book '48hrs: Two Days in the Life of the North East', published by BBC Books and containing hundreds of original and unique photographs taken by people across the region that, according to David Cox, producer of 48hrs, "Create a true reflection of how people feel about their area and their lives' at a specific moment in time."

'48hrs: Two Days in the Life of the North East' began as a collaborative project between the BBC in Newcastle, local production company Filmnova and the Tyne & Wear Development Corporation. The BBC were able to promote the project and along with Filmnova provided curatorial assistance in witling down the thousands of submissions to those that would eventually make up the book. The Tyne and Wear Development Corporation provided financial support with the books publishing.

While the book went onto become a success, what is less know is that twenty film submissions in the form of video tapes were also submitted by for consideration. Sadly, none of these films made it into the final publication and for the next thirty they sat on the shelves of Filmnova until being donated to the Yorkshire & North East Film Archives in the early 2010s. Now, thanks to the support of BFI Heritage 2022 these tapes have been digitised and made available here for you to view and look back on the people of the North-East of England over a summer Bank Holiday more than thirty years ago.