Full Programme Revealed for Yorkshire Fossil Festival in Whitby

A full programme of events for this year’s Yorkshire Fossil Festival, which takes place in Whitby on 10 and 11 June, has been revealed,

The highlights including a unique Night at the Museum, circus acts and street theatre from across the world, and a wide range of fossil experts and geologists.
 
On Saturday 10 June, between 10am and 4pm at Whitby’s Dock End (alongside the harbour): Let’s Circus present an international street theatre spectacle featuring, from India, The Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band, playing a diverse repertoire spanning Rajasthani folk songs, Bollywood hits, spiritual qawwali, Bhangra beats, sci-fi and intergalactic funk and even some well loved pop songs; comedy unicycle acrobats from Japan, The Witty Look Show, a huge hit at last year’s festival in Scarborough; and walkabout time travellers Fabulous Contraptions.

Dock End will also play host to The Rock Showman’s Booth, a travelling museum of mineralogical marvels and sideshow of sparkling stones, and music from Scotland’s Olivia Rafferty.

Meanwhile, at Pannett Park, Let’s Circus will host The Stone Zone, a creative workshop inviting participants to get lost in a world of balance as they create a gigantic land-art sculpture – join acrobats and artists to achieve seemingly impossibly gravity-defying feats. The Yorkshire Geological Society will hold stone-cutting and polishing workshops, the National Literacy Trust will be in residence with their storytelling tent, and there’ll be live music from Olivia Rafferty.

Indoors, at Whitby Museum and the Pannett Park Gallery, find the Soap Box Stars – 5-to-10-minute pop-up talks throughout the day from museum curators and local enthusiasts looking at the Whitby Museums collections, including shipping, local and natural history, fossils and geology. Palaeontological Assocation artist-in-residence James McKay will be inviting visitors to doodle their own dinosaur. And the stars of the BBC’s Attenborough and the Mammoth Graveyard, Sally and Nev Hollingworth, will host an exhibition about their discovery.

Saturday evening at Whitby Museum will bring a special Night at the Museum (6.30pm to 8.30pm). Guided by candlelight and a host of ethereal characters, see the museum in a new light in a truly unique immersive experience. A fusion of science, art and culture that will see stegosaurs rub shoulders with mammoths and statues come to life as acrobats and artworks become one. Night at the Museum will also feature talks from Dr Susannah Maidment from the Natural History Museum, and Sally and Nev Hollingworth.

On Sunday 11 June, from 10am to 4pm, there’ll be a Party in the Park, with The Witty Look Show and the Rock Showman’s Booth relocating to Pannett Park to join The Stone Zone, the Yorkshire Geological Society, the National Literacy Trust and Olivia Rafferty.

In Whitby Museum, there’ll be talks from Dr Susannah Maidment, who’ll discuss her research into stegosaurian dinosaurs, and Sally and Nev Hollingworth, who’ll reveal how it felt to unearth an Ice Age mammoth – and then appear on TV with David Attenborough!

On both days of the festival, Whitby Museum and Pannett Art Gallery will be the venue for an exciting range of exhibitors and activities, including the Dinosaur Isle Museum, the Palaeontological Association, the Museum of Whitby Jet, the University of Leeds, the Yorkshire Museum, Whitby Museum, the University of Sheffield, the Geologists’ Association, Scarborough Museums and Galleries, the Yorkshire Natural History Museum, Natural Wonders, the Yorkshire Fossil Hunter, Yorkshire Coast Fossils, ZOIC Palaeotech and Neojurassica.

Meanwhile, across the town on both days, and created especially for the festival by Discover Yorkshire Coast, a new Love Exploring quiz game will bring an array of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures to Whitby. Many have special links to the town, and players will use a map to track them, testing their fossil knowledge along the way.

Festival co-director Steve Cousins says:

“The festival programme is an eclectic collection of science, culture, kitsch and quirk – fitting for a fun town like Whitby and the amazing collection of Whitby Museum. It’s going to be great!”

The 2023 Yorkshire Fossil Festival is organised by Whitby Museum, Scarborough Museums and Galleries, and Let's Circus, with funding from Arts Council England, the Normanby Trust, Anglo American, Whitby Literary & Philosophical Society, the Palaeontological Association, the Geologists’ Association and the Yorkshire Geological Society.

Richard Adams, Anglo American’s Education Programme Specialist, said:

“We’re delighted to be supporting this year’s Fossil Festival in Whitby. We’re passionate about inspiring young people in the local area to think about career options and this is a fun and engaging way to do just that.

“Bringing the amazing geology on the North Yorkshire coast to life is something we’re thrilled to be involved with and we look forward to supporting the Fossil Festival to develop further in the future.”

More information about the festival is available at https://yorkshirefossilfestival.co.uk