THIS week sees the culmination of our Pride of East Lancashire Campaign, with a bumper gala awards night at King George's Hall, Blackburn, on Saturday.

The event will yet again prove just how good local people are at having a party. Reporter IAN SINGLETON looks back on 60 years of celebrations. . .

THE glittering ceremony for the Pride of East Lancashire Awards will be a fitting ending to a campaign which has caught the imagination of the whole area.

Our awards have been designed to reward the achievements of the many unsung community heroes that make East Lancashire so special.

All 11 community awards are to be presented on a night which will celebrate our achievements and which promises to be moving yet uplifting for the 1,100 people inside King George's Hall, Blackburn.

Former Bullseye host and proud East Lancastrian Jim Bowen will compere the event. He said: "I am really looking forward to it. It will be a fun night and it will be a complete and utter celebration.

"This is not my night, it is the county's night and its achievements which are being highlighted, but if I can raise a smile along the way, all the better."

East Lancashire folk's pedigree for partying has been well-documented, none more so than in 1953 for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.

A staggering 103 official official events were staged across the area, ranging from firework displays, to comic dog shows, processions, bonfires and boxing contests.

In addition, countless street parties were held -- Green Lane, Blackburn, was a typical sight with 100 people in fancy dress.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph columnist Margo Grimshaw recalled that celebration in Green Lane, Blackburn: "We were excited about it for days preparing it. If I remember, rationing was still on, so we all pooled our coupons and sorted the food. No one had a television on the street, we were all outside celebrating."

Almost 50 years on, East Lancashire people showed that their love of community partying had not been lost as they heralded the Golden Jubilee

Despite gloomy skies and occasional bursts of rain, many street parties were held, such as the one in Kentmere Drive, Feniscowles, Blackburn.

From the celebration of our Monarch to a more bitter-sweet event: VE Day on May 8 1945.

World War Two was coming to an end -- the news people had ached to hear for six years but never thought would come.

As soon as it was announced, massive crowds gathered throughout the country in a spontaneous demonstration of joy tinged with sadness at those who had died.

What was described as the "largest crowd in living memory" formed in Duckworth Street, Darwen.

The following day, street parties were under way, with the first being in Lyons Street, Bank Top, Blackburn.

Youngsters in Burnley paraded through the town and burned an effigy of Hitler.

Total strangers shook hands and bottles of wine carefully hoarded throughout the war were opened.

Doris Cassidy, of Accrington and Oswaldtwistle Royal British Legion, remembers that day clearly: "My main memory is that they put the lights on outside Accrington town hall -- were used to the blackouts -- and we were all dancing there."

Our area's football fans have had plenty to celebrate.

On May 14, 1995 Blackburn Rovers achieved what a few years earlier had seemed impossible when they won the league.

Immediately, tens of thousands of fans took to the streets to celebrate. Blaring car horns filled the air and houses became adorned with balloons and scarves.

Town centre pubs were packed and off licences in Blackburn sold out of beer. Some 30,500 people filled Ewood Park for a special celebration days later that will long be remembered by all who were there.

Pauline Perkins, secretary of the Official Blackburn Rovers' Supporters Organisation, said: "After the game it was an amazing celebration. We could not get into the town centre because it was so full of people. We are the first to have a moan when we are not doing well but we certainly do know how to celebrate."

Burnley FC's passionate fans stunned football with the scale of their celebrations when they avoided relegation to the non-league by beating Leyton Orient 2-1 in May 1987.

Simply surviving in division four was hardly an achievement, but it highlighted local people's unbelievable loyalty and willingness to party.

Phil Miller, of Accrington Clarets, said: "It was unbelievable. Just relief. We couldn't believe it had happened. It is only second to the birth of my daughter.

"Another great Burnley celebration was a few years ago when we won promotion to division one when we had Ian Wright.

"The party was absolutely out of this world. We drove back on a double-decker bus with 70 fans and we were standing on the top deck with our heads out of the windows. People were coming out of pubs cheering us: it was amazing."