Originally known as The Northern Film Collectors’ Convention, the event was first held in Blackpool in 1977 and was organised by Les Siddall of Regent Films who had a shop in the town.
Advert for the first Blackpool convention from Regent Films’ newsletter.
Some of the original dealers in attendance at that first Convention were Derann Film Services, Craven Instruments, Powell Films, Mailmaster, Regent Films and Perry’s Movies. In addition to dealer stands, there was a Super 8 demonstration in scope, an auction, and an Any Questions panel, which included Bill Davison, whose column Bootlace Cinema reviewed small-gauge package films in the popular Movie Maker magazine. Read the Movie Maker review of that first Convention. The Convention was deemed a success and a yearly November date was established.
Derann was approached by Les to take over the organising following the 1984 Convention, due to his ailing health; by then, it was being held at The Gables Hotel adjacent to Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The 1984 convention was a great success but it was obvious that the convention had outgrown The Gables and a bigger and better hotel was needed for the next year.
Derek Simmonds, owner of Derann, floated the idea of holding a meal and an overnight stay at the hotel so collectors could get together the night before the convention: “We might even have a film show” he said. Feedback was very favourable, so Derek looked for a new hotel in Blackpool. He found and secured The Cliffs Hotel on the Queens Promenade, North Shore for the Sunday convention and for a pre-convention dinner – and, for those who wanted it, hotel accommodation.
Derann had the occasional special guest at Blackpool, including actors Dave Prowse and Caroline Munro. In 1988, they memorably engaged Ray Harryhausen as after dinner speaker. Ray ran some extracts from several of his films on 16mm, before talking about his work. He enthralled the audience with his tales and even produced a number of the actual creatures he had given life to on the screen, including a skeleton from Jason and the Argonauts, the baboon from Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger and a Selenite from First Men in the Moon.
1995 saw a change of location for the Convention when it moved from The Cliffs to The Savoy Hotel, again on Blackpool’s North Shore.
When Derann closed their doors in 2011, there was concern that the event would be cancelled for good, but the Sunday Convention was rescued by David Guest who took over organising it at short notice and renamed it The Northwest Film Fair. Although there was no Saturday evening dinner in 2011, collector Adrian Winchester took over its organisation and it returned in 2012. Adrian continues to organise the dinner – and the film quiz which takes place between courses – to this day.
The event moved from the Savoy Hotel to the Hilton in 2013, again on Blackpool’s North Shore. It continued to attract collectors from throughout the U.K. and overseas, including a strong contingent from Norway. Sadly, David Guest died in 2019, though his family continued to organise the event which remained at the same hotel, now known as The Grand.
By now the Convention had grown to a three-day event, with a Friday evening film show and all-day film shows on Saturday in addition to the Saturday evening dinner and Sunday Film Fair. The all-day film shows on Saturday are films on Super 8 and 16mm loaned by collectors.
In 2022, organisation of the Convention was taken over by a new team – Paul Barker, Simon McConway, Jeremy Norman, Mark Norton, David Watson and Adrian Winchester. The 2022 event was hailed as a great success, and saw, for the first time, the Friday night film show being projected on 35mm. The new organisers are all collectors and enthusiasts, and under their stewardship will undoubtedly see the Blackpool Film Collectors’ Convention – the biggest event of its type in the U.K. – flourish for many years to come.
Picture courtesy of Pete Travers of Projections magazine.
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30 years of the Blackpool Film Convention Dinners
Attendees at the Blackpool Convention Dinner in 2015 arrived to find a number of folders on each table containing a history of the Convention Dinners. Read more
Blackpool Film Collectors' Convention 