An enchanting Christmas wonderland is set to transform Scarborough’s famous Open Air Theatre this weekend starting with a lantern parade tonight.
Scarborough Sparkle will return to the seaside town from Friday, 29 November, to Sunday, 1 December, with a funfair and stalls among the offerings.
The event will kick off on Friday at 5.30 p.m. with a lantern parade in Peasholm Park.
The parade will be staged by Animated Objects, with the help of 26 community groups across the town. This is twice as many groups as in previous years. The parade will transform the park into a paradise of lanterns and illuminations.
Funding from NYC events and the UK government has allowed for workshops to be extended to more places, engaging communities across the entire town. Lee Threadgold, artistic director of Animated Objects, said, “There’s an abundance of creativity and fantastic community work going on across Scarborough, and it’s great to be able to celebrate this as part of the Scarborough Sparkle weekend”.
Over the course of the weekend, the Open Air Theatre will house more than 50 stalls showcasing gifts, hot food and drinks.
The Tipi Venue will be offering a warm space to enjoy refreshments, and This is the Coast will take over the stage to feature local choirs.
A snow machine, Christmas tree and Santa sleigh will adorn the venue, and the Grinch and characters from Frozen will keep children entertained.
The O’Brien’s funfair will also be on site with a Ferris wheel, bungee trampolines, a ghost train, fun house, inflatable slide, as well as monster trucks.
Councillor Liz Colling, who contributed £1,000 from her locality budget towards the lantern parade, said,
“It marks the opening of such a major event in Scarborough, bringing people from far and wide to the town outside of the peak tourist season.”
Councillor Heather Phillips, executive member for corporate services at North Yorkshire Council, said that the Sparkle is an absolutely vital part of what makes Scarborough special. She noted the benefit to the local economy and jobs. It's estimated that 25,000 people will attend the event over the three days.
Admission to the venue is free. It will run on
- Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.,
- Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.,
- Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A free bus will operate a return service on Saturday and Sunday from Eastfield, passing through Crossgates, Falsgrave and Scarborough town centre, before arriving at Peasholm Park.
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