Banner parades, fairground rides and brass bands playing Daft Punk are all set to mark 40 years since the miners’ strike. Locals, ex-miners and Ken Loach tell us why the celebration of colliery life is so significant
Aged 16, Elliot Dixon held the pride of Murton village on his shoulders. “They said, ‘Elliot, carry this’ and harnessed the banner on to me. I was walking behind the bass drum and brass band with everything bouncing, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, and all I could think was, bloody hell, this is amazing.”
For Dixon, now 32, that first time carrying the banner at Durham Miners’ Gala is something he’ll never forget. The annual event – also fondly known as the Big Meeting – is held on the second Saturday in July and lays claim to being the largest celebration of working-class culture in the world, attended by 200,000 people from across the UK and beyond.
