New festival to revive Guernsey's history

Tuesday 12 March 2019

A new community event to celebrate Guernsey's post-war culture will take place in the island later this year.

The Guernsey Retro Festival takes inspiration from the 1950s and '60s, featuring classic motorcycles, cars, music and fashion from the era.

The three-day festival will raise money for local charities with a variety of entertainment and food.

Created by Jeff Fox and Dennis Le Prevost, the event idea won the 'Pure Innovation' category of the Guernsey Toursim Ideathon.

"The Guernsey Retro Festival will enable us to show nostalgia at its finest and that is what we do best," they said. "The weekend will be a celebration of the end of austerity with dancing, motorcycles, cars, music and dressing up - it was a real golden period of our heritage and we are looking forward to bringing that back to life."

Both Mr Fox and Mr Le Prevost were instrumental in the Distinguished Gentlemen's Ride in Guernsey last year, which raised more than £7,000 for charity, and used it as their inspiration for the festival. 

The Guernsey Retro Festival will take place on the 27, 28 and 29 September and is being supported by Specsavers.

Dame Mary Perkins, Co-Founder of Specsavers, said: "At Specsavers we value the community and are always looking for ways to support those around us. This will be a fantastic event for Guernsey which we hope will be enjoyed by many islanders and visitors alike. The 50s and 60s were my teen years so I am very much looking forward to it."

Festival organisers are looking for local dancers to help with teaching the Lindy Hop and have plans for flash-mob-style dancing throughout the weekend.

More information is available from guernseyretro.com.