The biggest celebration of arts, culture and sporting activities ever seen in Scarborough will be staged to help to attract more visitors and engage with the seaside resort’s local communities.

Over the course of three months, there will be five festivals featuring more than 260 events in 74 locations, all of which together form this year’s Scarborough Fair programme.

The festivals are:

• Big Ideas By The Sea from Friday 16 to Friday 30 May
• Scarborough Streets from Friday 30 May to Sunday 1 June
• Scarborough Fringe from Friday 13 to Sunday 22 June
• Scarborough Art from Saturday 5 July to Sunday 3 August
• Scarborough Extreme from Saturday 12 to Sunday 14 July

The festival director for The Scarborough Fair, Julian Caddy, said: “The summer season of The Scarborough Fair is an opportunity to support and celebrate both the great talent of local people, as well as welcome those from across the world.

“The sports and creative industries bring us together, define our identity and are essential for our wellbeing, so we are delighted with the broad range of activities and entertainment on offer over the next three months.

“We are proud to host the Nigerian Season as well as artists and athletes from Australia, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands and Ukraine.

“The Scarborough Fair will also be extending beyond Scarborough this year, with performances and events in Filey and Hunmanby.”

Last year’s events attracted more than 130,000 visitors, and it is hoped those figures will be surpassed this time around.

Our executive member for arts and culture, Cllr Simon Myers, said: “This year’s series of festivals demonstrates our commitment to arts and culture, not just in Scarborough, but across the county as a whole.

“We are excited to be able to offer such a varied and exciting programme of events and believe there is truly something for everyone.

“We have built on the success of last year’s programme and will, I believe, deliver the biggest celebration of arts, culture and sporting activities ever seen in Scarborough, and one I am sure everyone will want to be a part of.”

We have partnered with Big Ideas By The Sea for the opening event which features music, spoken word, astrology, archaeological digs and much more.

Highlights include talks by professors, Sir Christopher Frayling, Sir Richard Evans and Joann Fletcher, Scarborough-born industrial design consultant Richard Seymour and surfer, campaigner and environmentalist Hugo Tagholm, as well as music, spoken word, astrology, archaeological digs and much more.

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The next event, Scarborough Streets, held during the May half-term, features free street performances, activities, walkabout acts and workshops on Westborough, Aberdeen Walk, North Street and in the Crescent Gardens. There will also be music, circus acts, puppetry, magic, facepainting, arts and crafts and a replica Victorian bathing machine.

Creativity of all kinds, in venues large and small, is the focus of Scarborough Fringe.

The festival includes comedy, music, dance, theatre, spoken word, workshops and family shows.

This year involves a partnership with the Milan and Catania Fringe festivals, as well as offering the inaugural Chris Mellor Award for Excellence in New Writing.

Journalists from The Telegraph will also be presenting a live recording of an award-winning podcast covering the war in Ukraine.

Scarborough Art provides a platform for 70 mostly local, visual artists of all disciplines.  

Visitors will be able to view, learn about and buy work directly from the artists who have created it in galleries, outdoor locations, artists’ studios and their homes.

In addition, the town will host the first ever Nigerian Season as part of Scarborough Fringe and Scarborough Art, featuring some of the brightest creative stars of Nigeria, with theatre performances, photography and fashion.

Finally, Scarborough Extreme takes place over three days, following public demand.

Saturday is the Showcase Day in North Bay, with local sports groups, communities and businesses showing off what Scarborough has to offer.

There will be displays by extreme sports athletes, including 360 ALLSTARS, plus participation from National Governing Bodies British Cycling, Parkour UK, and Skateboarding GB. Music performances by Sound of Scarborough will take place throughout the day.

A Taster Day follows on the Sunday, allowing visitors to try out some of the sports and activities on offer at locations across town, while Monday is a Performance Day, with an incredible skydive by Skydive GB, landing outside Scarborough Spa, followed by two performances by the 360 ALLSTARS in the Grand Hall.

Tickets will be on sale at the end of April, along with early bird pricing for the must-see 360 ALLSTARS event.

For more details about all of this year’s events, visit The Scarborough Fair website.