Fire and Steel Festival

Redcar has been inextricably linked to Steel and fire since 1917 when the Teesside Steelworks were founded.

Teesside Steelworks, which stretches from Redcar, where the largest blast furnace in Europe is located, to east Middlesbrough area are Europe's largest steelworks producing steel for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Tyne Bridge, Auckland Harbour Bridge and many more.

The Corus Steelworks was taken over by Tata Steel in 2007^[1] but kept the name and its position as the biggest employer in the area.

On 19 February 2010 the steelworks were mothballed causing the termination of around 17,000 contracts.^{[2][failed verification]} The closure of Redcar's Steelworks not only had a huge impact on the local economy and employment, but also the moral of the area.

The first Fire and Steel festival^[3] took place as a tribute to Teesside's unique steel heritage and a recognition to the tenacity and spirit to the people from the area. Shortly after the inaugural Fire and Steel Festival^[4] on Thursday 24 February, the mothballed Steelworks were sold for £291m after months of negotiations with the Thai company SSI^[5] creating hundreds of new jobs in the area.

• http://www.redcardevelopmenttrust.com/
• https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-12514531
• http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2011/01/03/secret-millionaire-s-plan-for-teesside-steel-festival-84229-27914202/