Deeply Vale Festival 40th Anniversary two day festival

Photo: The Deeply Vale Archive

1978 20,000 people crammed into Ashworth Valley at the third Deeply Vale Festival

Music fans from all over Europe will join locals from Heywood and Rochdale for the Deeply Vale Festival 40th Anniversary two day festival at Heywood Civic Centre on Saturday 17 and 18 September 2016.

Organiser Chris Hewitt says he has had tickets purchased from Sweden, Holland, Germany, France, a large contingent from the Isle of Man plus all areas of the UK.

Deeply Vale Festival was held for four years at the top end of Heywood/Rochdale’s Ashworth Valley although the only road approach to the site was through Bury.

Starting with 300 people and local bands in 1976, it grew to 3,000 in 1977 and 20,000 in 1978 and 1979.

Many people say the best year was 1978 when Gong guitarist Steve Hillage who had left Gong to go solo with his partner Miquette Giraudy flew in from Finland to play the last night of the 1978 festival- the crowd shot of the people sat crosslegged all over the top end of Ashworth Valley waiting to see Steve Hillage has become iconic.

What was unique about the festival was four people who lived in a commune in Rochdale in 1976 and frequented the Heywood hippy music pubs of The Dressers and The Seven Stars together with Rochdale sound man Chris Hewitt pulled the whole thing together in under two weeks in September 1976 and then just watched it grow over the following years.

The first band ever to walk on the stage at Deeply Vale in on the weekend of 17 September 1976 were Heywood band Spike containing local musicians Larry Norwood, Charlie Debono and Eric Sager- they will be playing a couple of songs forty years later on Sunday 18 September 2016.

Heywood’s Reverend Mike Huck, now a young 75 years old, performed at the 1977 Deeply Vale with his Christian Rock band Movement Banned, which includes fellow Wigwam Acoustics founder Mick Spratt.

Reverend Huck and Movement Banned have been rehearsing solidly for months for their first reunion concert for many years on Saturday 17 September at the two day indoor festival.

Steve Hillage legendary guitar hero and now also dance music hero with his act System 7 will perform several different genres of music with a different performance each night to headline both Saturday and Sunday nights.

Sunday will see a unique line up to recreate Gong with many original surviving members of Gong coming together with Steve hillage on stage.

In total around 30 acts with original connections to Deeply Vale including Segs from The Ruts, Notsensibles, Nik Turner from Hawkwind, The Drones, Fast Cars, Victor Brox, Mike Sweeney and his Salford Jets, George Borowski plus a whole host of Rochdale and Heywood 70s bands that have come back together, Accident on The East Lancs, Wilful Damage, Physical Wrecks, Mudanzas, Frogbox, Alchemist and more.