Christmas comes to the coast
Yorkshire Coast BID is supporting a range of festive events and initiatives across the Yorkshire Coast this Christmas
With Christmas fast approaching, the Yorkshire Coast BID has pledged its support towards a host of magical initiatives and events in Bridlington, Scarborough, Hornsea, Withernsea and Whitby over the festive period.
WHITBY
Whitby Winter Festival: A special day out for all the family
Winter is in full swing in Whitby this year, with the seaside town will be installing a full-size covered real ice rink for the first time!
Based right in the centre of Whitby, the Whitby Winter Festival is a brand-new family focused festival launched on 26 November 2021 and will run until 30 March 2022. The festival has been put together by the newly formed Welcome to Whitby (WTW), a community-based company that was established to help Whitby and all the local businesses back after the pandemic. The festival itself is being completely run by volunteers and will be a celebration of the area and its businesses.
The real ice rink will be under the cover of a marquee on Endeavour Wharf, in the centre of Whitby for around 6 weeks over the festive period. With a capacity of 50 skaters, it will be the place to get your Christmas fun fix this winter season: https://whitbywinterfestival.co.uk/tickets/
Whitby Krampus Run
Bringing a different culture to the coastal town, Krampus is returning again this year, ready to shower Whitby with its unique take on Christmas traditions from afar! Not only will there be the Parade on Saturday (4 December) and the Krampus Ball, but there are also activities planned for over the weekend with a must see finale on the Sunday.
Organisers, Decadent Drawing, have worked hard with the community to expand the activities throughout the whole town and ways for families and children to get involved. The weekend festivities will also see The Krampus Krumpettes and a reappearance of Mister Fox with their Krampusse team and some new exciting performers in Tengu Taiko Drummers.
The finale will take place on Sunday with the inaugural Whitby Krampus Run Wild Hunt culminating in a very unique horse race.
SCARBOROUGH
Scarborough: Grue: A new magical alternative Christmas adventure
A new magical alternative Christmas adventure is coming to the Old Parcels Office in Scarborough this December.
Taking its name from a historic word for snow or shiver, Grue is a walk-through experience for families journeying through forest, town, sea and sky. There will be plenty to marvel at and discover and you’ll even get a paper decoration to make yourself!
Built by the community and made entirely out of recycled and repurposed materials, the project sends out a clear message about what is possible with a bit of imagination and your leftover Christmas packaging.
Slots for Grue are every 5 minutes and it will take 15-20 minutes to walk through the experience. You can book up to 6 people per slot. There will also be refreshments available to buy at the end of the installation.
Grue will be open on weekends 3pm – 7pm and Thursday’s from 4pm throughout December.
Additional dates 20 and 21 December from 3pm. Entry to Grue is ‘Pay What You Can’, meaning it is accessible to everyone. We suggest a £3 donation per ticket.
This BID funded event was created by Wintercroft in collaboration with the creators of Scarborough Stories, ARCADE and commissioned by the Old Parcels Office Arts Centre.
Scarborough Town Festivities
There will be a full programme of town centre events in Scarborough on the first three weekends of December with activities running from 10am until 4pm.
Each weekend will see a different street theatre act interacting with the crowds and leading people towards the ice rink.
The first weekend (3 to 5 December) will see a pair of ten-feet tall, noble and elegant lamp posts, similar to those seen in St Nicholas Gardens, except these are alive and ready for a chat!
The second weekend (10 to 12 December) is ‘bouncing weekend’ with Roo’d at Christmas appearing on Saturday. They are two bouncing kangaroos from Australia, confused by the cold – will provide a down-under Christmas experience. On the Sunday, they’ll be replaced by bouncing elves getting into all sorts of mischief.
The third weekend (17 to 19 December) will see the beautiful and engaging Ghost Caribou, giant, illuminated creatures, part caribou and part spirit, roam a mystical world accompanied by a wild herdsperson.
To accompany the street theatre, there’ll be activities for children and workshops where you can learn a few Christmas crafts and even some circus skills.
BRIDLINGTON
Bridlington: Lights Switch On
Bridlington is set to explode this Christmas with A Winter Festival program of events being pulled together by different groups throughout the town led by ROBOT (Regeneration of Bridlington Old Town).
With the Christmas lights now glowing in full force, it is the perfect backdrop to experience the first ever Merchants’ Market – comprising of traders solely from Bridlington and Old Town will be selling their wares in period costume along the High Street.
Then, throughout December restaurants and pubs will join in the festivities, to bring visitors back to Old Town, with their own special events – such as Ghost-themed Evenings with Bridlington Paranormal Investigations and other musical entertainments throughout December.
The Winter Festival will also feature late night shopping events on Thursdays, culminating with another Street Festival on December 19th, when High Street will again be closed – this will include much of the above, with a lovely Christmassy atmosphere, but the highlight will be a Steam Punk Parade mid-afternoon.
WITHERNSEA
Withernsea: Winter Wonderland & Crafters Market
This December will bring about a brand-new event in Withernsea, with a Winter Wonderland and Crafters Market on the 11 December from 2pm–6pm.
This free event will take place at Valley Gardens and Blue Door pop in with Santa’s Grotto, traditional German Market stalls, live music from Bandarama and Christmas lights and music.
With loads of food & drink stalls along with a raffle and tombola it is bound to be fun for all the family with all proceeds going toward the Food Banks & Shores Centre Pantry. Funded by the Local Growth team at East Riding Council
Kerry Carruthers, Yorkshire Coast BID’s CEO spoke about the BID’s involvement in the Christmas events: “As a BID we want to do anything we can to make the festive period special for the community and part of that is helping to bring new experiences to the Yorkshire Coast.
“We are pleased to be partnering with talented community groups and organisers to bring a calendar of activity to the Yorkshire Coast to help encourage people to shop and support local businesses this Winter.”
To find out more about the Yorkshire Coast BID, please visit: https://www.yorkshirecoastbid.co.uk/