Jesse Hutchinson and AC3 headline
Scarborough will burst into life when more than 100 events are held as part of the popular annual Coastival arts festival on Saturday and Sunday.
A huge bid to recreate Scarborough in 3D in the computer game Minecraft will be one of the star attractions.
Coastival – The Unexpected will feature 110 events, the majority of them free, across 32 venues, including unusual locations like the railway station and Scarborough’s disused prison building.
Coastival director Wendy Holroyd said: “The stage is set for Coastival 2017 and we are really looking forward to getting under way.
“This year’s theme is the unexpected and we have a full weekend packed with some of the best creative talent from our local area and from the rest of the UK and abroad, in unusual locations, right here in Scarborough.
“Obviously the Minecraft project is something totally new and unique that we have never attempted before but aside from that we have music, performances, visual arts and activities for youngsters in a wide variety of locations across the whole festival. It promises to be a really diverse, exciting weekend.”
Four new commissions will take centre stage. One is a bid to recreate Scarborough in 3D in the game Minecraft.
This has been a community effort including schools, colleges, community groups and individuals, creating Scarborough in Minecraft and will culminate in a huge Minecraft event over the Coastival weekend atthe Spa.
The other commissions are Market Hall Myriad of Music and Madness, a dynamic music and comedy night at Scarborough Market Hall and Vaults; ‘See (Glass)’ a lit sculpture at the Spa, created out of glass fragments collected from local beaches, and Sunny spells with a chance of snow, a novel recreation of a seaside experience condensed into a caravan, also at the Spa.
Other highlights are likely to include Riders to the Sea, a live performance of Vaughan Williams’ oneact opera at Westborough Methodist Church on the Saturday at 7.30pm and the Sunday at 2.30pm.
Head Above Water features film, photography, sculpture, drawing and poetry by various artists on show at Woodend, the Spa, the Stephen Joseph Theatre and Crescent Arts, throughout the weekend.
Platform 3 on Saturday 18 February, from 11.30am to 4pm at Scarborough railway station, will feature music, poetry and performance. Then at the Old Parcels’ Office on Sunday afternoon, from 1pm to 4pm, Tracks by the Tracks features music from Lazlo, Connor and Nathen and Empire.
Bands Behind Bars runs from 1pm to 4pm on the Saturday and will feature Frankie Dixon, Rhys Blood joy and Jesse Hutchinson performing at the former prison building on Dean Road.
Backseat Mafia brings the freshest, upcoming alternative bands to the Spa Music Room from noon to midnight on the Saturday and noon to 5pm on the Sunday.
The Den Meets Stone Penguin features a mix of live and DJ music at Farrer’s Bar on the Saturday from noon to 2am and the Sunday from noon to 6pm. Highlight is likely to be Newcastle funk band King Bee, at 11.30pm on the Saturday.
Other musical treats include Raven at the Crown Spa Hotel at 2.30pm on the Sunday and the Coastival Choir at a workshop at Scarborough Library and then performing at the Brunswick Centre at 2pm and 3pm on the Saturday.
The festival also includes imaginative and surprising artwork in exhibitions by local and visiting artists, in- stallations at various unusual locations and open studios at Woodend and other galleries. There’s also a full programme of films.
Rollercoastival 2017 will see special events for youngsters, including Suitcase Circus at the Scarborough Campus of Coventry University offering youngsters over six the chance to learn circus skills with award-winning performer Pete White, on Saturday.
There’ll also be lots of activities at Scarborough Library, including Exquisite Corpse, a surrealist drawing game and interactive and animated storytelling of the Stories of Roald Dahl.
At the Spa there’ll be opportunities for youngsters to write and perform a new song, follow The Pied Piper for a musical trail and create a picture box from their own happy memories.
There will also be art drop-in sessions and storytelling, as well as Horrid History Walks from Sandside at 4pm each day.