ONE of the oldest traditions in the North-East gets under way next month with a week-long community celebration.

Houghton Feast is thought to date back to the early 12th Century as a festival associated with the Church of St Michael and All Angels in Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside.

The annual feast is famous for its fairground, illuminations, parades and community hymn-singing.

However, the celebration is probably best known for the ox-roasting - a tradition believed to have been started in the early 16th Century by Rector Bernard Gilpin, known as the Apostle of the North, who fed the poor of the parish by giving them a bullock or a hog to roast at Michaelmas.

Events get under way on Friday, October 8, with a puppet parade and sound and light show, at Houghton Kepier School from 7pm.

On Saturday, there will be a festival day with street entertainment and the highlight of the show - the roasting of the ox - starts at 4pm on Monday, October 11, on the Rectory Field, followed by a fireworks spectacular on Durham Road Playing Fields at 7.30pm.