WHITBY GOTH WEEKEND

Twice a year the ‘Goths’ gather for a long weekend festival in the Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby. They were started in 1994 by Jo Hampshire who says Whitby was chosen partly because of its Dracula connections. At first it was envisaged as a small group of goths having a party in a pub (The Elsinore) but when 200 plus goths turned up it rapidly grew into much more than that. Initially they were annual events but since 1997 they have been held twice a year, usually the last weekends in April and October.

Now the Whitby Goth Weekend (WGW) virtually takes over the whole town with many events including club nights, markets, and even a charity football match. But essentially it is still just one great party for the goth community.

The locals welcome them because they are clearly good for business. This is not only because of the great number of goths themselves filling all the hotels and guest houses in town but also because they have actually become quite a tourist attraction bringing in many other visitors who come just to see them.

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I have long wanted to attend a WGW and finally got to go along with Tiffany in April 2010, staying in a small guest house. Many people associate goths with a love of heavy rock music, but if, like me, you are not particularly ‘into’ that, it is easy enough to avoid the venues where the rock bands are playing.

What attracts me to the WGW is the goths mode of dress which provided me with a great opportunity to spend the entire four days that we were there, dressed up in my beloved Victorian costumes. But the goths mode of dress is not just Victorian Gothic as it actually encompasses a wide range of genres. Trannies would easily fit in and be accepted by goths and the locals alike (I saw several besides those in our group).

Just some of the various dress styles you’ll see at a WGW:
Pirate, EGL (Elegant Gothic Lolitas), fetish, punk, ‘steampunk’, medieval, oriental, fantasy, and well, just about anything goes ...

In the streets of Whitby during WGW . . .

There are goths everywhere! Like many T* persons, the goths love to dress up and parade in their costumes, the more eye-catching the better. And they also love being asked to pose for photos. They are all ever so friendly.

For me it was great to wander through the streets of Whitby along with all the goths, being totally accepted and stopped every few yards to have my photo taken, not only by the tourists but also the many enthusiast/semi-professional photographers who come to the WGWs. Many of these photos will eventually be published or accessible on the internet (often for sale) so beware if you are concerned about your anonymity (but they always ask first).

What I particularly like is that, much more so than in the TG scene, it is especially the ladies who love to dress up outrageously. Being a hetero­sexual male (despite my chosen lifestyle) this attracts me greatly to the goth scene! As those who know me will know, I love period costumes (especially Victorian), corsets, and, err … lots of displayed cleavage … all of which is much in evidence during the Whitby Goth Weekends. What is there not to like?

Whitby Abbey

The goths come to Whitby partly because of its Dracula connections. The ruined Abbey which dominates the town, inspired the Count Dracula stories of the Victorian writer, Bram Stoker. It makes an ideal location for a photo shoot . . .

Night time at the Met

The Metropole has a party every night during the WGW including Sexy Sunday and Manic Monday. But Tiffany and I also enjoyed going from pub to pub in town where in each one we would make friends with a bunch of goths.