Whitby April 09
No Comments »In October last year, I dipped my toe into the Whitby Goth Weekend waters, as it were, just to see what it was all about - I enjoyed what I saw, so decided I would pay for the whole weekend in April (as the weather was bound to be better!) and experience the complete package.
The first difference between November and April, other than the weather, was the B&B. As I booked in plenty of time this time I managed to get a room in a B&B actually in Whitby to save the driving backwards and forwards that we had to do in November. As it turned out the one I picked was in a pretty good location and I left the car parked all weekend. It also meant we had a base in the town to return to whenever we wanted.
We went on Thursday afternoon so that we could attend the “Whitby Virgins’ Welcome” meeting on Friday morning where I thought we would pick up some info about what was going on. Someone had taken the trouble to produce a map with places of interest, places to eat, and goth friendly pubs marked and we then got the rundown of the do’s and don’ts of the weekends, liberally sprinkled with stories of previous years exploits/experiences of the guy holding the meeting. One thing which has really stuck in my mind, and I’ll also share this on the Plus forum at some point as it has particular relevance there, is the talk about safety of valuables/drinks during the evenings. In Plus it is pretty much taken for granted that you can leave your handbags/cameras etc., on your table unattended without any worries, and there is definitely no reason to think that if you leave your drink unattended it will have been spiked by the time you return - Loki (the guy holding the meeting) quite forcibly pointed out the stupidity of doing this in the “real world”, and it made me think how much people in Plus probably undervalue this aspect of their events.
Welcome meeting over, it was time for some window shopping (because I wasn’t actually going to spend much money this year, right?!) in the various locations where the “Bizzarre Bazaar” (excuse the spelling, not sure if that is correct!) was being held. There are always a wide variety of stalls selling clothes (including some amazing corsets….drool….!!), jewellery, hairpieces, CDs, etc..
By mid-afternoon we had just about worked off the good sized breakfast provided by the B&B, and by recommendation found what must be the best fish restaurant in Whitby and had the most amazing fish and chips, made up of a selection of four types of fish in batter - I’ve never thought of trying salmon in batter before, but have now found how good it is! We had been warned that we may have to queue to get a table but were lucky this time - other times during the weekend the queues were out along the pavement in front of the building!
We watched six bands in all over the weekend, three on each of Friday and Saturday nights. I think I can safely say that my enjoyment of goth music is limited….I didn’t hate any of it, but at the same time it didn’t really grab my interest particularly either. I had been wanting to see one of the bands after hearing some recorded tracks by them on a goth networking site, but despite really liking what I had previously heard, the live band itself was a bit of a disappointment. The other band I particularly liked was of a particular genre of goth called “Steam Punk”. Apparently inspired by Jules Verne and the Victorian engineering, particularly the steam era - the outfits are quite unusual, but the band (including a singing belly dancer - or is that a belly dancing singer?) proved to be enjoyable and a pleasant change from what we had been listening to previously.
A walk round Whitby and up to the Abbey on Saturday saw the town absolutely over-run with every type of goth imaginable (there are so many different styles/genres all included under the one umbrella of “goth”), and where there were goths, there were photographers, particularly in the churchyard where apparently earlier in the day there had actually been a goth wedding.
I managed to hold out until Sunday before I actually bought much, which proved a good move as I got at least 10% off the price of what I did buy - including a choker necklace that I have been wanting for some time. Despite the fact I had decided not to spend much, I just didn’t feel like the weekend was complete until I had managed to buy some clothes.
The thing I noticed (and no-one could fail to) is the fact that at this weekend as far as clothes are concerned, “anything goes”. People get the chance to dress as they want to, and be accepted as they are, not feeling they are being judged. The goth community appears to be a very open minded one, and people feel comfortable within it. There were a large number of cross-dressers, people with multiple piercings and tattoos, and clothes that may have been classed as outrageous in “normal” society. There is no one goth “look” as such, but still a sort of dress code. Stephen did say he was a little disconcerted when he went into the toilets but had trouble getting to the sinks because of the number of people using the mirrors for applying make-up - and yes, he did go to the gents loos!
So, general conclusion? Well the music may not be entirely for me, but the general atmostphere I enjoyed. I may not spend the money to attend the main events next time, the fringe events are probably enough for me in any case, but the B&B is already booked for November and I have started a clothes buying fund…..
Photos to follow as soon as I get around to choosing the best ones out of the many we took, and putting them on Flickr!
One last observation…….Whitby is a town full of steps - I’ve never seen so many in one town! I’m sure I’d be a lot fitter if I lived there, but would also eat a lot more fish and chips than I do now!
