A group of students will be recreating the heyday of the iconic Palace Lido with a one-off event this weekend.
‘The Palace Lido through the ages’ takes place on Saturday at the Palace Hotel and Casino, in Douglas, and will be a showcase of what the Lido had to offer over the years from the ballroom to the disco era.
The event has been organised by a group of students on the events management and marketing degree course at Isle of Man College’s Nunnery campus.
They have been supported by former manager Jimmy Gillespie and DJ David Cretney.
Utopos Events chairman Tamiko Ross told Island Life: ‘Preparations for the event are going extremely well and we are very busy.
‘It has been great to hear from locals about their fond memories of the Lido and we are trying to recreate as many of these memories as we possibly can on the day to ensure that we raise a significant sum of money for Manx Gateway.’
During the afternoon session, from 1pm to 5pm, entertainment will be based on the Palace Ballroom of the 1940s to 1960s.
Enjoy afternoon tea, ballroom dancers and a photo exhibition showing the venue’s history.
From 5pm to 6pm, guests can play bingo like the old days in the Palace Bingo Hall, for an additional £3.
In the evening they will recreate the disco years in honour of the performers the venue, which stood on the site of the Palace Hotel’s current car park, attracted.
The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Slade, Status Quo, Motorhead and the late David Bowie all performed there.
From 8pm, enjoy entertainment from rock and pop covers band Looney and the Vikings followed by local drag act Vida La Fierce.
Guests can also tuck into 70s-style chicken in a basket. Finally, DJ David Cretney will close the night with a two hour set from 10pm till midnight.
Tamiko said: ‘The response for the one-day return of the Palace Lido has been great. Many people feel like it was a huge part of the island and it is definitely something that is missed dearly.
‘We have even been asked by a number of people to host an event like this monthly so we feel it would be a great idea for a local venue to look in to doing this.’
For tickets, go to https://utoposevents.wordpress.com