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'Love it or hate it' nightclub's legacy celebrated

Fiona Callow
BBC News, Yorkshire
Willow Community Digital Archive/Ceri Oakes Photography A man and a woman dancing in a nightclub setting, with multicoloured disco lights. The man has short brown hair is wearing a pink shirt and holds a glass, and the woman has long brown hair is wearing a strapless white dress, patterned with pink and green flowers.Willow Community Digital Archive/Ceri Oakes Photography
The exhibition in York will reveal archive footage from the height of The Willow nightclub's fame

The legacy of an "important and symbolic" city nightclub famous for its free prawn crackers and decades-spanning pop playlist is to be celebrated at a special show.

The Willow was a family-run Cantonese restaurant and disco which was a nightlife staple in York for over 40 years between 1973 and 2015.

Marking the 10th anniversary of its closure, the free exhibition in the city would let people relive "the stories, the friendship, the love" through archive footage, memorabilia and anecdotes, organisers said.

Vicki Fong, daughter of Willow owner Tommy Fong, said: "Some people hated it, some people loved it - but it just evoked so many different emotions."

The Willow Experience exhibition, being held on Friday 13 June as part of York Festival of Ideas, would feature a series of six short archive films exploring the venue's 42-year history, Ms Fong explained.

It would include punters' memories from over the decades, interviews with the Fong family, and footage from the final club night.

There would also be memorabilia, merchandise emblazoned with the "Love It Or Hate It":[]}