Resort theatre’s summer season line-up ‘will be in place by Easter’

THE LINE-UP for this year’s concerts at the largest open air theatre in Europe will be in place by Easter, a councillor has claimed, following concerns about the number of acts revealed so far.

Scarborough Borough Council’s portfolio holder for leisure, Coun Martin Smith, made the claim in response after criticism that just four acts have been announced for the resort’s Open Air Theatre.

Kylie Minogue, Sir Cliff Richard, Madness and the Hacienda Classical tour have been confirmed for the 2019 summer season at the popular venue on the Yorkshire coast.

Coun Tony Randerson used a full council meeting to push the authority for answers, saying that “the longer (the wait) goes on, the less chance we have of getting good acts”.

Coun Smith said that the promoters of the venue, Cuffe & Taylor,

KYLIE MINOGUE: The singer has been confirmed for the Open Air Theatre summer season.

along with LiveNation, were not concerned about the lack of announcements which had been made so far.

He said: “We have spoken to Cuffe & Taylor who say they have been working hard to secure top quality acts. They are not concerned as what they are saying is they are getting high quality acts with a short sellout time and they are going to have these all (booked) by Easter.”

Easter this year falls on Sunday, April 21.

Last year, the 8,000-capacity venue sold a record number of tickets for the concerts, as more than 90,000 people watched artists including Britney Spears, Noel Gallagher, Gary Barlow and James.

The theatre was originally built in 1932 before it closed in 1986, and planning permission was granted in 2008 for a major renovation. The £3.5m scheme to transform the Open Air Theatre was completed in May 2010, and the venue has since staged gigs by Elton John, The Beach Boys and Status Quo.

When it re-opened, the theatre’s capacity was for a 6,500-strong audience, although this rose to 8,000 in 2017 when the lake area was covered over.