History of the Venetian Fête, now the Venetian Nights.

Matlock Bath's annual Illuminations, also known as the Venetian Fête or Venetian Nights, were introduced as a way of extending the tourist season into late August and September and, more recently, even into October. The first Venetian Fête took place on 14 September 1897, when a "grand regatta and illuminated Venetian Fête was organised by a committee, comprising the local tradesmen of Matlock Bath". There was "a magnificent display by fairy lamps, Chinese lanterns, etc. on the Lovers' Walks" and "an exquisite representation of Venetian illuminated boats on the river Dewent"^[1].

One-off spectaculars, such as Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations^[2], that included illuminated boats, fireworks and candles floating on the river had been staged since the 1828 when the rocks were first lit up in Matlock Bath^[3] and from around 1835 in Matlock Dale^[4]. In 1842 the rocks of Hag Tor, Wild Cat Tor, Lover's Leap, etc. were lit by Bengal lights, with floating rocks on the Derwent. This was for the amusement of the sons of the then M.P. for Nottingham and their friends who were staying at the New Bath. For the finale several cases of crimson fire were lit on the Bath Terrace, with the lights provided and supervised by Benjamin Bryan, Senior, who had used them at the Royal Devonshire Cavern^[5]. During Wakes week in 1861 there was a Fête, with fireworks and the rocks lit by coloured fires^[6]. A large Chinese balloon, surrounded by coloured fires and fireworks, ascended during a magnificent display in 1869 that was watched by 10,000 people. Coloured lights were lit simultaneously on all sides of the hillside by some fifty men^[7]. In 1882 it was decided to hold a regatta and illuminate the rocks, the Pavilion Grounds and Heights of Abraham on Monday 11th September^[2]. Similar events had taken place at marriage of Prince of Wales in 1863 and the visit of Emperor of Brazil in 1872^[8]. So the Venetian Fête of 1897 wasn't a new idea, but had evolved from these events earlier in the nineteenth century.

Illuminations.

"At the end of the last century [19th century] it was decided to light the Lovers' Walks with fairy lights. These were bucket lights, like little jam jars, and were designed to burn for 1-3 hours. The Jubilee Bridge used to be illuminated by small gas lamps^[9]". The weather was fine in 1899, when an estimated 10,000 people were present. A series of concerts and entertainments began punctually at seven o'clock and, as dusk approached, the whole of the Lovers' Walks and promenades were illuminated, lit by 5,000 fairy lights and Chinese lanterns^[10]. A year later the band kiosk on the Prom was a blaze of coloured lamps; that year the committee included Messrs. L. Pearson, Frank Higton and B. Bellamy as hon. secretaries^[11]. "Fairyland by night" was the verdict for the 1902 Fête^[12]. The following year there were two Fêtes, one in May and a second in September. The May venture cannot have been the first as the local paper commented that there had been a failure some years previously and the Matlock Bath Venetian Fête Committee had been dubious about running another such event in May^[13]. Two Fêtes a year continued until about 1913. The earliest decorative motifs were simple shapes - stars, triangles, circles etc.^[9]

"Frank Higton, Mr. Walker Hall and Fred Fowkes were the real beginners of the Venetian Fête and Joe Oliver was also heavily involved ... Between the Wars Mr. Walker Hall, who was involved with the Venetian Fête until 1939, had a budget of £20 which included the cost of the boys running around with tapers to keep the candles alight. His £20 didn't include Fireworks^[9]". Financing the Fête was a recurring problem and in 1937 the Committee discussed whether or not the Fête should be organised again as it proved to be a heavy financial burden when the weather was bad^[13]. "Pre War [WW2] the event was held as a one night stand on the first Saturday night in September^[9]".

Post War Revival.

When the event was revived in 1950, the candles along the Lovers' Walks were replaced by electric lighting. The annual event, organised by the Matlock Bath Venetian Fête/Nights Committee, became extremely successful in the 1950s when the web mistress's father, Frank Clay, painted the set pieces and when Wilfred Wright was responsible for so cleverly lighting them. "Wilfred worked slavishly during the months preceding the event. ... The committee had bought a secondhand set piece from Blackpool of a little girl skiing down a hill but they decided it wasn't the way they wanted to go. Wilfred had been involved before the War and asked me [Frank Clay] if I'd be prepared to help when we were working at the same property^[9]". "After the first year of my involvement, when the Fête was a great success, the committee decided to extend the display period. The organisational factors - police, electricity supply, council, &c. - had been ironed out and the 'Illuminations' were underway^[9]".

Frank Clay with his set piece "Farmer Giles", no date. Photo by Harry Gill.

There were several problems in running a one day event, which eventually led to changes. One was staging it on the river, as bad weather and sometimes flooding had always disrupted proceedings. Extending the season in 1952 helped counter this, and the event became the Illuminations and the Venetian Nights. The second was coping with the sheer number of visitors; sometimes the crush was so bad that the Jubilee Bridge was totally blocked. As early as 1903 there had been a proposal to use the ferry at the top end of the river as a way of lessening the heavy traffic over the bridge^[13], but the ferry wasn't designed for large numbers. The papers often reported that the gates and turnstiles leading onto the Promenade and been closed because the area was full. In 1954 the Committee ordered a temporary steel bridge to relieve the congestion^[15]and eventually a permanent footbridge linking the Derwent Gardens with the Lovers' Walks was erected, though this did not happen until after the Illuminations had left the Promenade. The final problem was that of discarded rubbish and one person has described, as a child, seeing rubbish knee deep along the Parades on the Sunday morning after the Fête, which had to be removed before the Bath could return to normality^[13].

My father's subjects included well loved characters from popular children's books of the time, ranging from Lewis Carroll's "Alice" and the "The Mad Hatter's Tea Party" to Enid Blyton's "Noddy and Big Ears". Nursery rhymes also appealed to the children, with characters like Old Mother Hubbard and Jack and Jill. There were dwarves, elves, Dick Whittington, Disney's "Snow White", the Man in the Moon as well as The Mekon, Dan Dare and Digby who were characters in the "The Eagle" comic. Larger set pieces included The Men From Mars and the United Nations Band as well as the Willow Pattern Story.

The Willow Pattern Story, about 1953-4. Frank Clay, with his son Robert assisting, is shown working on the set pieces. George Ludlam is sitting on the floor. The Willow Pattern Story is a fable of English origin, illustrated on blue and white china plates. Here we see the Mandarin's beautiful daughter Koong-se escaping over the bridge with her lover Chang, the Mandarin's Secretary. The Venetian Fête was, unfortunately, not without its problems and in 1955 vandals knocked down or interfered with around 70% of both lighting and set pieces, causing a great deal of extra work. Some of the set pieces that were already in place were pushed over. Remo Tinti was quoted as saying that "The whip of the Mandarin passing over the bridge in the willow pattern scene has been broken off". The Mandarin is not shown in the image on the left, but he was to the right of the two figures shown. That, together with all the other damage, had to be repaired.

For quite a few years the hardboard replica of Big Ben shown below remained the first thing visitors saw on crossing over Jubilee Bridge to the Lovers' Walk side. And the castle high up above the bandstand, which was 16 feet by 16 feet, was also there for some time (see photograph at the top). Pretty good considering the pieces were painted on hardboard. My father may have painted the front, but his children were amongst those who painted the backs to protect the pieces from weather damage.

From 1954. Dwarves, a windmill with rotating sails, "Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Men in a Tub ... the butcher, the baker , the candlestick maker" and Big Ben. Note that Remo Tinti, as the butcher, is sitting in the middle. The windmill (in colour) was displayed in a different location the following year. Several of the later set pieces moved in some way. From "The Derbyshire Times" and "The Windmill", a post card.

Erecting the lights must have been a hazard in itself as the "wooded slopes and limestone tors of the Lovers' Walks" were lit up. There was also, on occasion, the additional problem of the river. During late August 1954 the workers were "soaked to the skin, toiled away in the driving rain ... to complete the layout of the illuminations for the official opening on Saturday, but all the time the river rose ominously. The swollen waters mounted at the rate of more than a foot an hour until the river was about eight feet above the normal summer level, and work had to be suspended while some of the designs and set pieces near the water's edge were made safe. Men waded into the water to prevent them being washed away"^[16].

There was a formal switching on ceremony of the Illuminations, often performed by well known people in the district, such as the local M.P. or the Duke of Devonshire^[17]. A week later one very special Saturday evening's entertainment - the Fête itself. The town band played in the band stand, there was an enormous firework display accompanied by the "Ooos" and "Aaah's" from both the bandstand and the crowd on the Promenade, plus the competition of the wonderful decorated boats. Visitors streamed in, many using the train service from cities such as Manchester and Derby. In the 1920s they had arrived by charabanc, until the charas were replaced by buses and later private cars. The Promenade was always very crowded and visitors also lined the roads on the hillside above.

"Matlock Bath would be a poor place without the Illuminations"
George Tansley, former hon. secretary of the Matlock Bath Illuminations & Venetian Nights committee, about 1976^[18].

The Illuminations and Venetian Nights are still popular annual event in Matlock Bath, and now last for several weeks. However, for the purposes of this page the text covers largely only the early development of the Venetian Fête and Venetian Nights and its resurgence in the 1950s, up to and including the time of my late father's involvement. There have, of course, been gaps in continuity since the Venetian Fêtes began in Matlock Bath; the most obvious being the war years.

Just occasionally high water levels in the Derwent still puts a dampener on the event. In late October 2019 excessively heavy rainfall meant the river burst its banks close the Pavilion and the Derwent Gardens. The last two evenings of the Illuminations were cancelled, something that last happened about 18 years ago, as the water levels were just too high for the decorated boats although the final night's firework display went ahead as planned.

Illuminated boats, originally lit by candles in tiny glass jars, have always been a hugely important element in the success of the Fête. These are discussed on another page.

The 1968, 1969 and 1975 Programmes. 1968 was the second year the Illuminations and Venetian Nights had been held in the Derwent Gardens. A new bandstand had been built but the footbridge was a still thing of the future. The 1969 programme shows it being constructed. Selling programmes was entrusted to Matlock Bath's youngsters who received tiny sum of money for each sale. Woe betide you if you had accidentally given someone the wrong change. It was docked from your total. The programme price, at 6d, had remained unchanged since the mid 1950s.

Three programme covers, two with boats on the front page:

Can you help?

If you have any old photographs in your album of the set pieces done in the 1950's, please email the web mistress

Related pages.

Venetian Fête (now Venetian Nights), decorated boats

The Band Stand on the Prom

Matlock Bath High Tor, by Frank Clay

South Parade & The Pitchings, a drawing, by Frank Clay

Frank Clay, artist. Examples of the work of a Derbyshire artist. This page is elsewhere within The Andrews Pages.
Travelling to the Venetian Fête or Venetian Nights - view some railway posters.
See 1960's letter from the renamed committee elsewhere on this website (linked at the bottom of that page).
Matlock Bath: Charlotte Farnsworth, Poetess - Charlotte wrote a poem about the Venetian Fête.
Celebrating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, 1897