“IT was a bit of a blur, and suddenly it’s gone.”

The inaugural Dead Dead Good Weekend in Northwich may have flown by, but it has left a lasting impact on the town and beyond.

Three days of live music spread out across town was a legacy of last year’s 'North by Northwich' Charlatans festival, with fresh impetus and a new direction.

Organised by a conglomerate of Northwich businesses, bodies and volunteers – with the backing of the legendary Dead Dead Good Records label – the weekend saw 10 venues putting on a variety of events.

Gareth Phoenix, of Witton Street-based Gentlemen’s Practice, said: “Across the board, everyone seems to have been really happy with it.

“Lots of the gigs sold out, and everything was really well attended – the whole weekend was just a general success all around.”

Happy coinciding with the Artisan Market and a weekend of warm sunshine, DDGW hit the ground running with non-stop music, as well as a sold-out Q&A with Dead Dead Good Records founder Steve Harrison, Radio 6 folk legend Mark Radcliffe and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mark Gill.

‘Manchester Made Me’, an exhibition showcasing rare musical memorabilia and artwork, runs at Abda’s Obeid Gallery throughout May.

Meanwhile, Northwich favourites such as Deja Vega took the roof off at a pop-up Barons Quay stage, while the Salty Dog, Retros and Memorial Court were also packed full of music fans.

“Everyone was milling around Barons Quay throughout the day, which was great to see, and the artisan food stalls were popular,” Gareth said.

“We were speaking to the Northwich BID on Saturday and they were saying there were an extra 4,000 people compared to a normal Saturday with the Artisan Market.

“That’s on a par with an extravaganza weekend, which is great to hear – great for the town and great for businesses.”

Having pulled the event together at breakneck speed, adding venues and bands to the bill in the weeks and days leading up to the weekend, organisers are relishing the chance to go again on May 15 and 16 next year.

Gareth said: “We have already started planning. We had nine and a half weeks to pull this together – just imagine what we can do in the space of a year.

“There’s nothing that we really want to change, but lots we want to add to. We will be starting to look for a main sponsor for the event as well.

“A lot of people involved have said how good it was and they want to come back, so it’s only going to be bigger – it’s going to be bigger, it’s going to be better, and it’s going to be dead dead good.”