JOY – Stand Lees Farm, Rochdale, 1989

August 5–6, 1989. A field in Ashworth Valley turned into ground zero for the Northern rave explosion. Thousands showed up for JOY, an ecstasy-fuelled outdoor acid house rave that laughed in the face of authority.

Rochdale Council tried to shut it down with a last-minute injunction. DJ Mike Pickering was served a 24-hour restraining order and pulled from his Cromford Court flat, having been billed to play without his knowledge. The Donnelley brothers, Anthony and Christopher, the lads behind Gio-Goi, made it happen. It was partly filmed for Tony Wilson’s Other Side of Midnight with DJs Paul Oakenfold, Paul “Trouble” Anderson, Jon DaSilva and Laurent Garnier.  Even the young Inspiral Carptets roadie Noel Gallagher was there, soaking it all up before Oasis were even a thought. Dubbed “a Woodstock for the rave generation,” JOY was chaos, freedom and unity all rolled into one.

Fortunately, photographer Peter J Walsh was in the thick of it, and captured these incredible photos for one of the first outdoor raves in the UK.