New Whitby Winter Festival Will Bring Ice Rink to the Town

A new Community interest Company will bring together 290 local businesses to deliver a Winter Festival in Whitby from November to March.

The Whitby Winter Festival is a brand-new family focused festival running from 26 November 2021 up until 30 March 2022. The festival was put together by newly formed Welcome To Whitby (WTW), a community based company established to help Whitby and its local businesses bounce back after the effects of the pandemic. The festival itself is being completely run by volunteers.

Spokesman for WTW, Andy Brown says:

“We wanted to provide something fun and engaging for the local community whilst also helping the businesses in the town have the opportunity to trade for a longer period.  We hope everyone will enjoy the attractions being provided within the Whitby Winter Festival and we also hope it will become an annual programme of events.”

The centre piece of the festival is a full sized (10m x 14m) real ice-skating rink. The real ice rink will be under the cover of a marquee on Endeavour Wharf in the centre of Whitby for around six weeks during the Christmas period. It’s hoped that the ice rink will be a popular attraction for all, bringing in more than 6,000 skaters throughout the festive period. It’s a way to bring both the people of Whitby and visitors from far and wide to sample all that Whitby has to offer.

Organised and led by a volunteer group consisting of 290 hospitality businesses and working under a new community interest company, Welcome to Whitby CIC, the team hope that the annual theme, which is decided jointly between interested parties in the town will provide a back drop to various bodies, such as the council and other commercial entities with the festival working to tie things together and providing an opportunity to deliver a ‘joined up approach’ to the outside world whilst also coordinating a number of initiatives over and above the ones that normally take place during winter.

The festival begins in November with the installation of the Whitby Ice Rink and Whitby’s Dazzling Christmas. The New Year then brings Whitby Wellbeing offers and the Whitby Harbour initiative (a new weekend with details to follow) and the Whitby Literary Festival. When coordinated with existing events such as the Whitby Winter Market, the Krampus Run, The Boxing Day Dip, New Years celebrations and Valentines Day, the winter period will have more to offer for locals and visitors alike.

Restaurants such as The Star Inn The Harbour, headed by Michelin Star chef Andrew Pern, will be involved in the festive food and drink markets that will surround the ice rink.

Andrew says:

“As a Whitby lad, I think the ice rink and the festival as a whole is a great opportunity to bring all the family back to Whitby. They can come for some great food and wine alongside the rest of the fun. The feeling of togetherness is something we all need and what better time than at Christmas?”

A real ice rink is a major investment. It is being mostly funded by a grant package provided by Yorkshire Coast Bid and Scarborough Borough Council.

Kerry Carruthers, Chief Executive for Yorkshire Coast BID, said:

“We are thrilled to be supporting such a fantastic event for Whitby. The drive and passion that the organisers have to establish this event for the community and visitors following a tough 18 months, shaped our decision to support, and we are sure that it will be a great way to boost trade in the winter when visits to the area would typically start to slow down.”

Cllr Jim Grieve, Scarborough Borough Council Cabinet Member for Quality of Life said:

“It’s fantastic that Welcome to Whitby businesses have come together to deliver an exciting programme of activity for the autumn and winter period. We are delighted to offer our support to local businesses in bouncing back after what has been a very challenging 18 months.”

The Whitby Winter Festival is also being supported and sponsored by local companies, such as Whitby Seafoods.

Barry Harland, Head of Responsible Business at Whitby Seafoods said:

“We thought that supporting the Winter Festival would be a really important thing to do as part of our community work this year.  The challenges everyone has faced since early 2020 need no explanation. We hope that having this event in the centre of town will give local people something to enjoy and bring in new visitors to give local businesses a boost. The ice rink centre piece will be great fun for all age groups and we look forward to seeing it bring a smile to people’s faces.”

The festival has been created around the theme of togetherness, and after the last eighteen months of social distancing and separation, it seems like a fitting time to bring people back together again. It’s a time and place that has been created to bring Whitby locals and people from all around the surrounding areas together to enjoy the festive period.