Geno Washington is to return to Spalding almost 60 years after he headlined the town’s extraordinary 1967 music festival, in a concert that will also launch a major project to record local memories of the event.
Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band will perform at the South Holland Centre on Thursday, November 12, 2026, at 7.30pm. Organisers say a support act will be announced later.
The appearance will begin a six-month journey into the history of BBQ 67, leading to celebrations for the festival’s 60th anniversary in May 2027. It is being organised alongside an oral-history initiative led by Past Present Possible CIC, which is asking people connected with the original event to share their recollections and surviving material.
Concert will launch search for Spalding memories
Tickets are due to go on sale on Wednesday, August 26, priced at £20. They will be available through the South Holland Centre website at southhollandcentre.co.uk or by calling 01775 764777.
The November performance is intended to be more than a return visit by a major performer. It will provide the first major gathering connected with the anniversary programme and the starting point for a public effort to build a fuller record of what happened at BBQ 67 and what the night meant to people in Spalding.
Past Present Possible CIC wants to hear from people who attended the festival, tried to attend, knew somebody who went or later inherited items from friends or relatives. The organisers are looking for memories of the musicians, how people found out about the event, how they travelled there and what it was like to be inside the building or waiting outside with friends.
Photographs, tickets, programmes, press cuttings and other memorabilia are also wanted. The group says even one vivid recollection could add another part to the story. The material gathered is intended to form a digital archive and an exhibition in 2027.
The project’s purpose is to preserve more than a list of famous names. Organisers want to interpret the event through the experiences of its audience, creating a picture of the atmosphere, the people who attended and the place BBQ 67 held in Spalding’s cultural history.
What happened at BBQ 67?
The original festival was held in Spalding’s tulip auction hall, on or around the site where Halfords now stands. Its bill brought together an unusually influential group of performers, including Geno Washington, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Cream and local band Sounds Force Five.
BBQ 67 is believed by many to have been the world’s first music festival. It took place before the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock, events that would later become defining landmarks of the era. That claim is part of the reason the Spalding event is being revisited as both local history and a significant chapter in the development of music festivals.
The initiative also has a connection to Cream’s drummer Ginger Baker. His daughter, Nettie, is supporting the oral-history project.
Several notable people were reported to have been in the audience, including author and feminist Germaine Greer and newsreader Alastair Stewart. Rod Stewart is also rumoured to have attended, although the source presents that as unconfirmed.
Public meeting planned for September
People interested in contributing to the project can attend the next public meeting at Spalding parish church on Wednesday, September 9, from 12pm to 2pm.
Past Present Possible CIC is also working with community groups and other organisations on a month-long programme of events planned for May 2027. The programme will lead into the 60th-anniversary celebrations and provide further opportunities for the memories and material collected during the project to be shared.
Geno Washington’s career
Washington was originally from Evansville, Indiana, and came to England with the US Air Force during the 1960s. His enthusiasm for blues and soul led to him performing with local bands around Ipswich before he moved to London.
There, he appeared with leading rhythm-and-blues acts including Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames and Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band at the Flamingo Club in Soho. Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band soon became known as one of Britain’s most exciting live acts.
The band’s energetic performances were captured on the albums Hand Clappin’ Foot Stompin’ Funky-Butt…Live! and Hipsters, Flipsters and Finger-Poppin’ Daddies. Washington’s name reached a new generation in the 1980s when Dexys Midnight Runners paid tribute to him with their worldwide number-one hit Geno.
He continues to tour and perform for audiences around the world. His return to Spalding will bring him back to the town where he appeared at an event that remains surrounded by both local memories and international music-history significance.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to know that people in Spalding still remember that night. I’ve played all over the world during my career, but those early days in Britain were incredibly special. I’m looking forward to coming back to Spalding, seeing the people again and hearing their memories of a night that happened almost 60 years ago. And, of course, we’ll make some new memories too!”
The November concert therefore marks the beginning of the anniversary project rather than its conclusion. The organisers hope the return of BBQ 67’s original headliner will encourage people across Spalding and beyond to come forward, helping preserve the stories, images and personal experiences that cannot be recovered from the original line-up alone.