Whitby Goth Weekend celebrates Halloween return

A North Yorkshire seaside town has welcomed the return of one of the UK's most popular goth festivals.

The Whitby Goth Weekend is held twice a year, in April and October, but joined other events in having to be cancelled due to the pandemic.

The event attracts thousands of visitors to the seaside town, and is said to be worth about £1m to the local economy.

Festival founder Jo Hampshire said it was "fantastic" to be back.

She said when it first started in 1994, it was only supposed to be a one-off event in a local pub, but had since grown into a "monster".

Ms Hampshire said there was also much more to it than "velvet and gravestones".

She said all sorts of people attended the event, including Harry Potter fans, bikers and "people who are into Victoriana who are well past pension age".

The event features live music along with an alternative market.

Tim Sinister, also known as The Blogging Goth, also welcomed the festival's return, which he described as a major date in the goth calendar.

However, he said for him it was still primarily a chance to "meet up with mates" and enjoy some 80s-inspired music with "drum machines and deep vocals".

The Whitby Goth Weekend was first prompted by the town's association with Bram Stoker's gothic novel Dracula.

During the pandemic, two Dracula fans - on a 350-mile trip from Edinburgh to Cambridge - were fined for breaching Covid restrictions after taking a detour to see Whitby Abbey in homage to their fictional hero.

Nearby St Mary's Church also put up a sign warning people to stop asking for directions to Dracula's grave.

"There isn't one," the sign said.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].