A celebration of Scarborough’s artistic culture has captured the imagination of residents, visitors and businesses who have turned out in force to support a major festival in the town.
The Scarborough Lights festival has now entered its final fortnight with thousands of people having already attended Yorkshire’s most popular seaside town this month to see the spectacular illuminated art installations on display.
Now in its second year, the festival – which runs until Sunday, 22 December – includes a total of 46 events featuring the work of internationally-renowned artists, as well as creative talent from both Scarborough and the wider Yorkshire region.
The festival was set up to help instil civic pride in the town as well as attract more visitors during a traditionally quiet time of year for tourism.
Executive member for arts and culture, Cllr Simon Myers, said: “A lot of work has gone into making this year’s Scarborough Lights festival as exciting and diverse as possible, to engage and involve as many of the local communities as we can.
“It’s therefore really pleasing to see how everyone has embraced the festival and come together to join in the celebration of arts and culture here in Scarborough and across the rest of the county.
“We want Scarborough Lights to become one of the flagship events on the national arts calendar. It has been a huge success so far – and there’s lots still to look forward to over the coming days and weeks.”
Among the festival’s highlights include the Scarborough Live Advent Calendar, with residents, community groups, local schoolchildren and businesses helping to decorate windows in 24 locations, with a festive creation unveiled on each day of December.
Among the first windows to be showcased was at The Bike and Boot Hotel on Cliff Bridge Terrace, after its managers partnered with youth homelessness charity SASH which supports young people throughout North Yorkshire.
They designed an eye-catching display with one side of a Christmas tree brightly decorated and the other with no decorations or lights at all, contrasting how the festive season can be a difficult time for young people facing homelessness.
The fundraising officer at SASH, Aimee Harding, said: “We work with lots of young people in the Scarborough area and it means so much to everyone at SASH to be working with The Bike and Boot to showcase what Christmas can look like for young people who need SASH.
“We’ve had some amazing feedback already, and it’s been great to see so many people stopping to think about how that must feel and what they could do to support SASH and help young people in the area.”
Among the festival’s showpiece events still to take place is the South Cliff Fire Garden, which will see live fire performances, kaleidoscope lighting and a star walk. Hot food and drinks will be available from Embers, Geo and Candy Chops.
Tickets are on sale for the Fire Garden, which will run from 18 December to 22 December, with a bumper crowd expected to take in the enchanting spectacle of fire and light.
The Ships Ahoy! event will also run until 22 December with stunning illuminations on display on vessels in the harbour, while Scarborough Art Gallery will be open until 6.30pm each day for the Stories Under the Stars installation exploring the town’s past and present.
The light festival is one of the showcase events of a three-year cultural project, the Scarborough Fair, which has the aim of engaging with local communities and nurturing a passion in the arts among its key ambitions
The director of the Scarborough Fair, Julian Caddy, said: “The live advent calendar is a brilliant opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate the good-will of the festive season, both with creativity in their windows and to sing carols, eat, drink and be merry.
“This year I'm especially touched that we not only have residential streets involved, but also schools, community groups and charities - especially those that support people who are having a hard time, which can be all the more difficult at this time of year.”
The Scarborough Town Board has helped finance the Scarborough Fair programme through the Government’s Towns Deal programme.
The chair of Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee, Cllr Liz Colling, who sits on the Scarborough Town Board, said: “It’s fantastic that communities have supported and embraced the festival and we can’t wait for what’s still to come.”