River Carnival

Hawaii it is not, but the weather does not put these competitors off taking part in this Teesside river carnival.

Established the same year this film was made, the Cleveland Youth Association’s first river carnival took place on the River Tees at Stockton on a wet, cold Saturday in July 1978. With her inquisitive camera, amateur filmmaker Betty Cook captures the youth of the newly-established Cleveland messing about on the water. The film also features the not-so-very Hawaiian Girls winning a crazy raft competition that features a boat with a 70s not-so-PC name.

This film was produced and narrated by Middlesbrough-based amateur camerawoman Betty Cook, who was also the President of the Cleveland Cine Society and the North East Cine Society. She filmed many events in the region from the 1960s through to the 1980s.