Belle Vue Zoological Gardens - Music and Dancing

Music and Dancing

In 1853, Belle Vue staged the first British open brass band championships. Attended by a crowd of over 16,000, it was the first of what became an annual event until 1981. A revival occurred in the popularity of brass band contests during the 1970s; competitions between local bands could attracted crowds of up to 5,000.

Belle Vue contained several ballrooms, the first of which was constructed in 1851, above a hotel at the Longsight entrance to the gardens. A larger structure, the Music Hall, was built in 1856, underneath the firework viewing stand, capable of accommodating 10,000 people on its 27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) of dance floor. A wooden open-air dancing platform was opened in 1852, and by 1855 had been extended to cover an area of 0.5 acres (0.20 ha). Throughout the summer, music was provided by bands such as the Belle Vue Military, the Belle Vue Quadrille and the Cheetham Hill Brass Band. Open-air dancing continued until the 1940s, but by then the attraction had lost its appeal, and the platform was converted to a roller skating rink. It was destroyed by fire in 1958. The same fire destroyed the Coronation Ballroom, which was replaced by a "huge ballroom complex" known as the New Elizabethan Ballroom in 1959. With room for 4,000 dancers on its two floors, and the largest Wurlitzer organ in Europe (installed in 1967), it was described as being "unsurpassed in Great Britain for size, comfort and elegance". Many well-known bands of the time regularly played for the dancers, including Geraldo and his Orchestra and the Joe Loss Orchestra. During the 1960s and '70s, the ballroom also hosted discothèques such as Jimmy Savile's Top Ten Club.