AN evening of live music marked five decades of friendship between County Durham and its German twin town.

Hundreds of people attended the free open-air concert in Durham City’s Millennium Place, which was organised by Durham County Council to celebrate the anniversary of the area’s twinning arrangement with the university town of Tübingen.

The evening of entertainment, opened by council chairman Councillor Katie Corrigan, featured German singer and accordion player Martina Schwarz, who was joined on stage by more than 200 children from schools around the county.

The NASUWT Riverside Band entertained the crowd with a selection of German-inspired music, while Tübinger Saxophon Ensemble performed works by composers including Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst Georg Frideric Handel.

Trimdon’s own folk group Skerne also took to the stage ahead of travelling to Germany next month to take part in Tübingen’s own City Festival.

Stalls in Millennium Place served up a range of German food and drink and there was a special screening of the award-winning German language film, Toni Erdmann, at Gala cinema. Around 6,500 schoolchildren also took part in events during the day.

Cllr Joy Allen, cabinet member for culture and tourism, said: “Over the past five decades, thousands of people from Tübingen and our area have taken part in a wide range of activities through our town twinning relationship.

“It’s wonderful that we have maintained this relationship for 50 years and what better way to celebrate than by coming together for with a day of entertainment and celebration.”

A year of celebrations to mark the golden jubilee of the town twinning arrangement is set to continue with events including music and sports exchange events, an exhibition of images by Tübingen photographer Steffen Sixt at Gala Gallery.

The event is one of an unprecedented number of cultural events taking place in Durham in 2019. To find out what else is going on and how to get involved in the #Durham19 campaign visit www.thisisdurham.com/19

For more information about events and activities to mark the 50th anniversary of town twinning between County Durham and Tübingen, visit www.durham.gov.uk/Tubingen50.