Bristol Old Folks' Festival
The Bristol Old Folks' Festival ran from 1963 until 1996 and was a big deal for the older community living in Bristol. The Festival provided free entertainment for anyone over 70 within the greater Bristol area and was funded through the Dawn James Charitable Foundation. The week long programme included variety shows at the Bristol Hippodrome, coach trips to resorts, cinema visits and trips to the Bristol Zoo. Gifts were provided for those that were housebound and unable to attend. The variety shows continued until 1980 and the trips until 1996. In total it is estimated that over 270,000 people attended the variety shows and 500,000 enjoyed free excursions.​
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The Festivals were a massive undertaking and below is a snapshot of the 1974 Bristol Old Folks' Festival which cost £53,785 (in todays money that would be nearer £500,000).
1974 Festival: Coach Tours
The Festival in 1974 gave the older folks' of Bristol a choice of seven different coach tour options including to Bournemouth and the Brecon Beacons. The tours were advertised all over the City to encourage people to apply. Posters and applications forms were distributed to local post offices so that people could select their chosen tour.
In all, 20,001 people went on a trip in 1974, and the most popular was to North Devon which attracted 6,016 applications. Some coaches had difficult climbing Porlock Hill, the steepest A-road in the UK with a gradient of 1 in 4 in places. Stops were made at Dunster and at Lorna Doone Country. By far the greatest number of passengers were in their '70's, but the oldest to go on the North Devon tour was Mr H. Short from Bitton who was 96.
The average cost per head for the coach tours was £2.16 (in today's money that would be £28.77) and each tour included lunch and tea. A coach ticket showing the itinerary is shown below next to the end of year report for 1974. This describes the meals and even gives the Bournemouth Corporation Pier Restaurant 'a below par' review!
A total of 456 coaches were required to accommodate all of the tours, with an average 30 coaches leaving Bristol every day. There were different pick up points across the City as shown on the schedule below. Each coach had two volunteer escorts, and to assist them in getting everyone back on the coach after stops, each passenger was given a stick-on lapel badge. Some of the passengers were 'anti' wearing this badge because they didn't want to be called 'old'! The badges were given out once they were on the coach as the previous practice of sending them out with tickets resulted in some being either forgotten or conveniently 'lost'.
The coach drivers fully entered the spirit of the Festival and gave excellent care and attention. Of special note, were the drivers from 'Black & White Motorways in Cheltenham' who received praise on how they made the tours memorable and pleasant, however bad the weather. ​
1974 Festival: variety shows at the Hippodrome
As well as the coach tours, there was also a week of variety shows at the Bristol Hippodrome with two shows per day. A total of 14,500 tickets for the shows were given to the old folks' of Bristol. Seats in the Upper Circle were offered to the general public at 25p each, so that the elderly didn't need to be concerned about the stairs. The Saturday evening performance was broadcast live via Bristol Hospital Radio, thereby reaching another 2,000 people.
1974 Festival: food parcels for the housebound
Those who were housebound were not forgotten either. When the Festival first started, they would have a food parcel delivered to the by the Bristol Battalion Boys Brigade. Details of the contents are shown below. This was offered from 1965 but by 1974 the logistics of packing and delivering nearly 7,000 parcels was too much and so the elderly were given vouchers; £1 for couples and 60p for single people which could be spent at Gateway Foodmarkets or the Co-op. At today's prices, the vouchers would be worth £13.32 for a couple and £7.99 for a single person.
