DRACULA’ S FOOT STEPS
People attend the Whitby Goth Weekend in the Yorkshire seaside resort, where Bram Stoker found some of his inspiration for Dracula after staying in the town in 1890. Thousands flock to the festival twice every year.
IT HAS become one of the world’s most popular alternative music festivals since launching more than two decades ago.
And thousands of music fans flocked to the Yorkshire coast from Friday to celebrate the Whitby Goth Weekend.
The event was the spring instalment of the twice-yearly annual gathering, which also takes place in the autumn in the town where Bram Stoker found his inspiration for Dracula in the late 19th century.
Whitby was awash with hordes of visitors, dressed up in weird and wonderful costumes to mark the gathering at the weekend.
Its main attraction was live music at the Whitby Pavilion venue.
This year’s onstage lineup included alternative music from the likes of Rayguns Look Real Enough, Dr Haze’s Freak Show From the Circus of Horrors and Desmond O’Connor.
Meanwhile, hundreds of visitors were treated to a unique ‘bizarre bazaar’ alternative market, which pitched up at various locations around town across the weekend. On Saturday, festival-goers were invited to take part in the search for the town’s alternative model of the year. Entrants were put to the test in a series of photoshoot sessions inside the Pavilion. The festival drew to a close yesterday when spectators headed to Whitby Town’s Turnbull Ground to watch Real Gothic FC take on Stokoemotiv Whitby, for a special charity football match.
Funds raised from the game will be donated” to The Willow Foundation,T SOS Children’s Villages and WHISH.
Celebrating all things gothic, the festival weekend now also pays tribute to emerging subcultures including Victoriana and Steampunk.
The Autumn Whitby Goth Weekend dates have not yet been revealed.