close
Tag: Whitby Goth Weekend
|
 jed
|
| Whitby Goth Weekend October 2008 |
| 2008.11.04 19:48:55 | |
|
After years of knowing about Whitby Goth Weekend, I finally bit the bullet and booked a stall at the October 2008 WGW. Myself, Simon and Imogen left London on the afternoon of my 38th birthday and seven hours later, with the aid of Simon's sat nav, we arrived at our hotel in Scarborough. We were greeted by Helen, the owner of Fountains Court Hotel, and her dog, Badger, and offered a cup of tea in the lounge before being shown to our rooms. The following morning, after 6.30am breakfast, we drove across the beautiful Yorkshire Moors to the historic town of Whitby. It took a couple of hours to set up. We were in the smaller room of the Leisure Centre, along with 5 other stalls selling a range of products, from corsets to jewellry, sock creatures to photographic art. In the main room of the Leisure Centre, there were more regular Whitby Goth Weekend traders. In between the downpours of hail stones, WGW visitors arrived, on their tour of the sights of the festival. Some of the care and attention to detail in people's costumes was quite stunning. There were women in full length Victorian bustle skirts, corsets, jackets and hats with veils, and men in top hats, tails, white shirts, cravats and waistcoats walking proudly with their ornate black and silver canes. The range of people at the Whiby Goth Weekend also included younger emo goths, Whitby locals and others interested in, or just curious about, the goth and alternative lifestyle. Trade on the Friday was steady, though the room we were in was audibly quiet at times. This we rectified on the Saturday, as I raided the CD collection in my van for some appropriate EBM, industrial and 80s music, and Jeremy, the Leisure Centre manager, obliged in playing it through the sound system normally reserved for up beat aerobics music! The atmostphere and weather on Saturday were much better, and trade was brisk. At around 5pm, we finished selling for the day and headed down the hill to the Elsinore, one of the busy goth friendly pubs in the town, to meet up with a few friends. We were hoping to go and eat at the Shepherds Purse, a vegetarian cafe/restaurant on the south side of the estuary, but it was only open until 7pm, so we wandered down to Shafiq's on the waterfront for a curry instead. On Sunday morning we checked out of the holistic hotel in Scarborough. If we could have stayed for longer, I'd have taken advantage of some of the facilities and treatments. All we managed between us was Simon and Imogen having a hot tub on the Friday night (I was too full of the locally caught fish and proper chip shop chips to join them). The weather on Sunday was pretty dire and I think the rain kept many WGW visitors from venturing up to the Leisure Centre. We were hoping for a busier day, as the stalls in the Metropole were only open on the Friday and the Saturday, so there was only the Spa, Rifle Club and Leisure Centre to tempt Sunday shoppers. There were a few last minute sales and orders, though, and they provided enough ready cash (rather than credit card payments) so that I could pay for a pitch in the main hall of the Leisure Centre for April 2009 Whitby Goth Weekend. All in all, our first WGW was a success. The festival attracts a different crowd to any of the other events we do, but we sold enough strap trousers, tailcoats, bustle skirts, waistcoats, empire trousers and fleece-lined coats to make Whitby Goth Weekend one of our regular events. See you all there in April 2009! Tags: Whitby Goth Weekend Hits: 87 | Read more... |