Mammoth Northern Soul night to take place in Sunderland, featuring DJ Russ Winstanley

Tickets were selling fast for Saturday’s event at the Roker Hotel where Russ Winstanley will headline and eight other DJs will also entertain for nine hours.

A hotel spokesman said they were ‘excited to be hosting the event in our fabulous ballroom’.

Plenty for fans to enjoy

From 3pm, 300 fans will get to enjoy a packed programme which will include a 90-minute set by Russ who was instigator and original DJ at the infamous Wigan Casino where he championed Northern Soul.

Event organiser Jon Banwell said the name of Northern Soul ‘emanated in the late 60s from the British ‘mod’ scene and later grew into a craze which peaked in the 1970s in the Midlands and the North of England."

‘Surprising’ number of Northern Soul Clubs in North East

The trend involves people dancing to old and often rare records at dance sessions all night and Jon said there were ‘a surprising number of Northern Soul Clubs with avid original vinyl collectors playing to enthusiasts in North-East social clubs and community centres’.

He added: "I was asked by Sunderland’s Roker Hotel to organise such an event. There will be various DJs from around our region performing in the ballroom which has one of the last remaining sprung dance floors in Sunderland.”

Russ Winstanley will also be hosting a question and answer session early in the evening.

The event is said to be almost sold out but to check availability of tickets, which are £10 per person, visit the website www.rokerhotel.co.uk