Billingham International Folklore Festival

Absolute waste of moneyAnd they don't even come come from around the world they is no street parade and is just shambles.

Absolutely brilliant been a few times would definitely recommend to all

I had visited BIFF for many years during my childhood and teenage years (70's, 80's) and then it was a large festival with a very large audience, seats full, people being turned away, lots of craft items, decent town center. I have lived abroad for sometime and went to see the BIFF in 2011, and was disappointed to see that it had been scaled down quite a bit and the audience was less than a quarter of what it used to be. Also, the state of Billingham town center was shocking. I visited it today (10/08/13) and couldn't believe how much more the festival has been scaled down. The dancers are wonderful and so are the volunteers who give up their time and the concert was great. What has happened to the festival? Why has Stockton Council let it get like this, the parade was not at all like it used to be, I couldn't believe that there were many empty seats in a very small arena (it used to be very large). Someone hasn't been doing their job and has let things go. I heard many people sitting nearby commenting on how the festival has declined over the years. Very very disappointing to see this happen especially as these groups are coming from such a distance. Billingham Town Center has not improved and is embarrassing really.