THOUSANDS of music lovers from across the UK headed to the North-East on Friday night for a festival billed as a rave for grown-ups.

Sunderland’s Herrington Country Park played host to Haçienda Classical – a one night only tribute to dance music classics from the heyday of Manchester's legendary Haçienda nightclub.

Gig-goers came from as far away as Brighton, Glasgow, Canterbury and Bristol for the show, which promised acid house hits, played by a full orchestra – with a DJ mix thrown in.

The tracks, by bands such as New Order, Black Box and Marshall Jefferson, have been reinterpreted by the club’s original DJs, Mike Pickering and Graeme Park and will be played alongside the Manchester Camerata Orchestra with performances from the AMC Choir, New Order's Peter Hook and Happy Mondays' Rowetta.

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