UPDATE 15/8/21:
DJ Rainbow played in the morning.
A couple of news videos, thanks to god old Webm8.co.uk, who have been documenting this scene for as long (or longer) as we have!
A comment from Jamie pointed to the fact that there’s was nothing on here about the 1991 event in Stroud. This is what he said:
a truely epic warehouse free party in Stroud Sept 21st 1991 when 8000 ravers crashed into town and rocked the old Great mills
Big thanks to Matt for sending us this flyer:
DJ Tone was there, and his comment can be seen below. He also sent us newspaper cuttings from the party, thanks Tony!
Here’s a transcript of the article:
Convoy of cars thwart police efforts to halt event at warehouseThousands rave it up at illegal party
Thousands of young people drove up to 300 miles in convoys to a disused South Cotswold warehouse for what was described as the last of the summer raves.
By 1am yesterday morning they had thwarted police efforts to halt an illegal pay party despite reports that one was being organised.
The sheer speed with which locations can be chosen and sound systems set up by rave organizers meant that by the time police learned of the location at the Salmon Sheds industrial estate, at Pitchcombe, the warehouse and surrounding area were crowded.
As people danced to booming noise inside the warehouse, a separate public address system kept hundreds of others dancing in the car park after the party started.
Complaints
Police set up roadblocks to check all vehicles travelling towards the Stroud area and turned away hundreds of late arrivals.
Gloucestershire police superintendent Ken Mahon, based at Stroud, said “We got there quickly but by the time we arrived it was already going on. It was a question of containment.”
Hospitals, fire and ambulance crews in the county were put on stand-by for injuries.
“We had in excess of 20 complaints from the public, about noise and the large numbers of vehicles driving around the area,” said Supt. Mahon.
Sixty-six people were arrested and a number of items including drugs and a sound system were seized.
Police officers drafted in from across the county but let it continue until its close at 7pm last night.
Many of those attending defended the rave, saying they were simply enjoying themselves.
Helen Thornton, 21, travelled from Milton Keynes in a convoy of 50 cars.
“We knew there was a rave somewhere near Oxford. That was it, and everybody found their own way down here.” she said.
And 24-year-old Steve Adams, from Cheltenhman said: “The attraction is there are no rules or boundaries.”
There was a follow-up article the following spring with the following headline:
WORD!
Anything to add anyone?
By the way, we’ve found three references to parties in Stroud, this one, one the previous weekend at Aston Down, organised by Free Party People, then one in May 1992 at Selsey Common in Stroud, a Spiral Tribe do where someone got on the mic to confront a mugger: https://freepartypeople.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/april-1992-spiral-tribe-free-party-on-stroud-common/
Anything in anybody’s memory banks?