Great Goth Weekender for an (un)dead good time
Some will say that it began in 1890 when an Irish author arrived in a coastal town in the north of England.
Though that same author would tell a different tale – about how a creature resembling a large dog which came ashore at the headland and ran up the 199 steps to the graveyard of St Mary’s Church in the shadow of the Whitby Abbey ruins.
That creature was of course Bram Stoker’s Dracula in canine form, although the town’s place in the world of horror and the Goth subculture was less well celebrated until over 100 years later, when in 1994, Jo Hampshire began what would progress from a biannual to a yearly festival three years later.
As you might expect, both the November weekend and the one taking place until Sunday 28th will attract lovers of the bizarre, weird and wonderful to the Yorkshire coast for the Whitby Goth Weekend.
The town was chosen for its connections to Dracula, although with fans of both books and film having an interest in Whitby, local businesses are well-used to a procession of tourists with an interest all things mysterious and undead. And the fact that the weekends contribute to the local economy to the tune of £1m per annum can’t hurt either.
The alternative festival, which of course is celebrating 30 years as one of the world’s premier Goth events, takes over the town for the four-day event, with Brunswick Centre and the town’s Leisure Centre hosting attractions including the Bizarre Bazaar Alternative Markets which boasts more than 100 indoor stalls.
The extended weekend, billed as family-friendly, also contributes to good causes, having partnered with various charities including – perhaps unsurprisingly – the Bat Conservation Trust.
And while it may have made its name as a music festival – with household names such as The Damned and The Mission playing in the past – the spring incarnation is more about celebrating the club scene, with Stars and Moon hosting the industrialoriented Heavier than a Heavy Thing, and glam rock and metal from DJ Burty’s Big Stick of Rock before the pair clash on the Sunday night – and into the witching hour