Whitby Goth Weekend Fri 27th - Sat 28th October 2006
Last weekend saw the return of Whitby, in North Yorkshire's
Goth Weekend. The event, which has become something of a tradition, has taken place anually from 1994 till 1997 when it became a twice-yearly event held in April and then later on in the year, around Halloween time.
The affinity between this small Yorkshire fishing town and the subculture known as
Goth doesn't stem from it being the birthplace of Captain James Cook, unsurprisingly, but it's connection and inspiration of Bram Stokers gothic novel, Dracula. There is indeed a certain eerie quality to the feel of the towns narrow winding tunnels and alleyways, overlooked by the foreboding image of the medieval abbey and St Mary's churchyard high up on East Cliff.
Stoker's novel describes how Dracula arrives in England on the Russian schooner, Demeter, which crashes at the foot of East Cliff with it's dead captain lashed to the wheel. A huge black dog is seen jumping to shore in the moonlight.
Due to it's cameo appearance in Dracula, Whitby is now seen as a pilgrimage for all nightcrawler wishtheywere's the world over. The
Goth events attract psuedo bloodsuckers from all corners of the globe, but especially German ones.
Alongside the pretend vampires are your more common or garden black clad manic depressive. Teenage girls with dyed black hair, whitewashed faces and Tim Burton stripey stockings are commonplace. Thanks to the likes of Marilyn Manson and the goth leanings of certain EMO bands, there seems to be an endless supply of fresh blood attending the events. The bands appearing were really rather old school though, none more so than Friday's headliners, The Damned.
The main event is held in the Pavillion Spa, and this weekend was as popular as ever with all tickets selling out in record time and Whitby's B+B's all showing 'no vacancies' signs. The line up was as follows:
Friday 27th
The Damned
Vampire Beach Babes
Trauma Pet
XYkogen
Saturday 28th
XPQ21
Katzenjammer Kabaret
Inertia
Uninvited Guest
On both nights the Pavillion was jammed full, with most annoyingly about a thirty minute wait at the bar. The real attraction is the
Goths themselves, you wouldn't believe just how many trannies, midgets and Captain Jack Sparrow impersonators you could fit in one room. Too many it would seem, as the freakshow spilled out to another venue, The Met, just further along the road. The nights revelries usually conclude with a drunken treck up the 199 steps to St Mary's churchyard for more snakebite and black in the moonlight. Just before the police clear them off.
The event appears to be going from strength to strength with this weekend being covered by the BBC's culture show, and more curiously a visit from a UK Garrison stormtrooper platoon. Complete with Darth Vader and a grossly overweight Darth Maul.
The next opportunity to experience the full delights of a Whitby
Goth gathering will be their New Year's bash, so get your costumes ready. The dandier, the better.
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Whitby Goth Weekend 2006
. One of my favourites of the night. I'm still gutted that I didn't get a pic taken with one of the Captain Jack Sparrow's (and there were plenty of them).
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