Synopsis

A black-and-white handheld video recording of the E1 Festival, 1973, filmed by the Basement Project, from the streets in Wapping to a field in Stepney. The E1 Festival was a community-run event that took place throughout the 1970s on vacant land in Stepney, East London. Originally set up to raise money for the Junior Football League, it was a weekend long event of music, performing arts, stalls, and activities for people of all ages. The video features various vibrant vignettes of the festival, a performance on stage by men in tophats, a musical performance by one male singer and an electric guitar. We see a field of people ambling around, women dancing, kids playing with a giant inflated ball. You can hear a live cover of ‘A Teenager in Love’ by Dion & The Belmonts, followed by a musical performance by a primarily Black group, with steel pans, drums, a woman with shakers, a saxophonist and a trumpet on stage.