Residents and visitors are being encouraged to don Victorian attire today for a special seaside parade celebrating the 400th anniversary of Scarborough as a spa resort.
Elaborate period costumes will fill the streets of Scarborough today to mark a major milestone in the rich history of the town.
A special parade is taking place to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the coastal destination operating as a spa resort. The historic procession will culminate at Scarborough Spa, with local residents and visitors strongly encouraged to dress in traditional period attire for the unique occasion.
The anniversary celebration aims to recreate the traditional Sunday promenade along the seafront, which was a highly popular social activity during the Victorian era. For a participation fee of ten pounds per person, attendees will receive a commemorative booklet to mark the milestone, a set of digital photographs emailed to them at the end of the day, and free transit on the Central Cliff Lift.
The grand procession will finish with well-earned refreshments at Scarborough Spa, accompanied by the atmospheric sound of live music from the venue's orchestra.
Andrew Aldis is one of the dedicated organisers behind the anniversary celebrations. He says it's about dressing up and having fun:
"That's it, back in Victorian days on a Sunday, everyone will get dressed up in their best clothes, they'd take a promenade along the seafront and look amazing, have everybody look at them and we want to recreate that and we're inviting people to get dressed up and come along for the ride. We're running an event which is 10 pounds per head and for that, you get a set of photographs at the end emailed to you, you get a commemorative booklet, you get refreshments here at Scarborough Spa to the sound of the orchestra playing and you get free transit on the Central Cliff Lift and basically have a pretty fantastic day, looking like a Victorian person and behaving like a fool."
Wearing heavy period clothing during the seaside event brings its own unique set of challenges, especially when considering the practicalities of historic fashion and the many thick garments worn by the original seaside visitors.
Reflecting on the often uncomfortable realities of wearing the restrictive Victorian outfits during the height of a promenade, Andrew said:
"I'd say I mean this this are they going to fight because they're hot? I mean I always think was the Victorian time just a bit smellier than the present day because I guess it probably was. But yes, I I guess they were more hardy folk and the ambulances weren't hanging around for them. But yeah and also that they were really strapped in weren't they? really strapped in. I guess there were several levels layers to absorb the sweat."
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