A night out in Newcastle in 2008 - 10 photographs of lads and lasses on the Toon

The weekend is upon us (and it's a bank holiday weekend to boot) which means it's time for our regular helping of retro fun, Bigg Night Out.

The feature originally ran in the Chronicle every Friday between 1999 and 2012 and featured photographs of people out and about enjoying themselves in Newcastle city centre. Then as now, it was meant to provide a bit of light relief amid the often gloomy headlines of the day.

The lads and lasses in our 10 pictures were photographed out on the Toon back in 2008. We hope the intervening 15 years have been good to them.

READ MORE: A very different Newcastle at the time of the late Queen's coronation in 1953 - 10 photographs

But what do you remember of 2008? In the news, construction work began on the new Olympic Stadium in advance of the 2012 games in London. Also in the capital, the Tory candidate Boris Johnson won the race to become London Mayor, defeating Labour’s Ken Livingstone. And in football, Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United lifted their 10th Premier League title in 16 years.

In the pop charts, we were listening to the likes of Adele, Duffy, Rihanna, Leona Lewis and Kelly Rowland. At the cinema, big movies included Slumdog Millionaire, Kung Fu Panda, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. And on TV, it was the year of Ashes To Ashes, Lark Rise To Candleford, and Wallander.

Check out our 10 Bigg Night Out pictures from 2008, and see if you recognise any faces.