A CULTURAL festival drawing visitors to Yorkshire’s coast brings more than an ‘off-season’ boost to its tourism economy, festival directors have said.

Scarborough Fair, lending its name straight from history, launches its autumn and winter season from today with lights, performances and entertainment in the seaside resort.

It serves as an invitation to millions of visitors in quieter months, said festival director Julian Caddy, but also as a springboard for the arts and new generations of sporting talent.

"This is about making more noise about the creativity that exists across Scarborough and North Yorkshire," he said. "This isn't 'just a town in the North East of England', but a hub of creativity that spans around the world - just like the original Scarborough Fair was."

Performers take to Scarborough town centre as part of a previous Scarborough Streets event. The festival returns on October 11 and 12.

placeholder image — Performers take to Scarborough town centre as part of a previous Scarborough Streets event. The festival returns on October 11 and 12.

The phrase Scarborough Fair may be best known from a folk song by Simon & Garfunkle. Yet it is first recorded in history under Royal Charter in 1253 as a fair drawing merchants from as far away as the Ottoman Empire to "sell goods of true worth".

Then, said Mr Caddy, traders were drawn from all around the world to Scarborough. He added: "We are reinventing it for a modern age. By celebrating what is going on around the town, by being bold and not holding back."

Scarborough Fair was first set up in 2023, with a year-round programme featuring hundreds of events and with dozens of venues and businesses taking part.

Today marks the start of the autumn edition of Scarborough Streets, delivered with the Stephen Joseph Theatre. Street performances will bring the town centre to life, from one-man bands to circus skills workshops. It is backed by North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith and run by North Yorkshire Council (NYC), with links to local groups, and part funded by £1.2m from the Government's Towns Fund Programme.

Later in the year there will be art installations, exhibitions, and open studios events. Then dazzling displays with the return of Scarborough Lights. Always popular is a "world class" drone display at Scarborough Castle over a long weekend from November 19, then installations at St Mary's Church exploring Histories and Mysteries.

NYC's executive member for arts and culture, Coun Simon Myers, said: “It is important that our tourist destinations are not just seen as places to spend summer holidays. They have so much more to offer."

And Scarborough is home to a "year-round" ecology of creativity, said Mr Caddy: "This is an opportunity for us to champion the creative – to encourage people to find out more about their own town and the people within it."

The fair is shaped and directed by local groups and as a vibrant showcase of talent, he added. "This is worth celebrating,” said Mr Caddy. "It's a proving ground, an opportunity, and we will see people coming through that once cut their teeth here."