A weekend of family fun, live music, and maritime rescue demonstrations will take over Staithes and Runswick Bay to raise vital funds for the RNLI.
A three-day festival of live music, parades, and maritime rescue demonstrations will take over Staithes and Runswick Bay this weekend.
Vital funds for lifesaving operations will be raised between August 14 and 16 during the 2026 Lifeboat Weekend. The popular community event brings together residents, visitors, and supporters to back the volunteer crews who remain on call twenty-four hours a day, every day of the year, ready to save lives at sea.
Festivities will get underway on Friday evening in Staithes. Live music from local musicians and the ever-popular Middlesbrough Jazz and Blues Orchestra will entertain crowds. The evening will also feature the traditional Nightgown Parade, seeing villagers, visitors, and RNLI volunteers taking part in the much-loved procession through the village behind the band.
Morning activities will shift to Runswick Bay on Saturday, giving visitors the opportunity to meet RNLI volunteers and learn more about the charity's work. Back in Staithes, a variety of fundraising stalls, games, and attractions will open throughout the day, with RNLI souvenirs and gifts available to purchase.
Lifeboat Weekend Coordinator Colin Harrison told This Is The Coast:
"There'll be souvenirs and stalls down in Runswick Bay in the morning. Then, we are round back to Staithes in the afternoon. We're helped by Rapid Relief Team who have a barbecue from midday onwards. But we have then have various stalls, usual sort of Tombola, there's a human fruit machine stall and a pick a bottle stall and that sort of thing. There'll be our lifeboat, and depending on operational things, there will be Whitby lifeboat and Redcar lifeboat visiting us as well. We also have the Coastguards coming and they bring their vehicle down and explain to people what they do."
Maritime search and rescue operations will be showcased during the annual lifeboat exercise, which remains one of the day's highlights. The demonstration offers visitors a chance to see the skills, teamwork, and equipment involved in sea rescues, featuring Staithes and Runswick RNLI alongside visiting search and rescue partners.
Colourful displays of creativity and determination will launch from the lifeboat slipway later in the day during the popular Homemade Raft Race, as competitors take to the water.
Lifeboat Weekend Coordinator Colin Harrison outlined the Saturday evening schedule:
"And about that 4 o'clock, there'll be a raft race, that's across the harbour with rafts that people have built themselves. There's then a fancy dress, that's 6 o'clock, and then we have some music on the stage, we've got this year Heart Hill Village Voices, which is a community choir from South Yorkshire, and Middlesbrough Jazz and Blues orchestra who have supported us for a number of years, and that's great. And they play on the seafront here until fireworks provided by G2 Fireworks start at 10 o'clock from the pier, the Northern break water there."
Hundreds of yellow ducks will take to the beck on Sunday morning for the famous Duck Race, which organisers describe as one of the weekend's most popular family events.
Thanksgiving services in Staithes and Runswick Bay will conclude the weekend. The services provide an opportunity to reflect on the RNLI's lifesaving mission and the ongoing support from the local community.
Event organisers invite everyone to come along and enjoy the festivities, though they note that programme details remain subject to change and may be affected by weather conditions or operational requirements.
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