A Summer of Festivals, Live Music and Adventure at Hotel Victoria

A short drive up the coast, Whitby turns into something wonderfully strange every February and July. This summer’s edition runs from the 24th to the 26th, filling the Pavilion with brass, corsets and a Victorian style twisted into something more futuristic.

Many consider it one of the largest steampunk gatherings in the UK, and one of the friendliest too. So what’s on offer?

• Dozens of independent traders selling Victorian inspired fashion, handcrafted accessories and retro futurist gadgets
• Talks, demonstrations and workshops running throughout the day
• Ticketed concerts and cabaret once evening arrives
• Costumed promenades through Whitby’s historic streets, harbour and clifftops

Daytime entry is free. Because Hotel Victoria was built in 1897 and once hosted sea captains passing through, it feels like the right place to rest your head after a day among the gears and goggles.

For the latest programme, check the Whitby Steampunk Weekend listing.

Just along the coast, Whitby swaps steampunk for fiddles and clog shoes come late August. Whitby Folk Week runs from the 22nd to the 28th, filling pubs, halls and the seafront with concerts, ceilidhs, storytelling and dance displays.

You don’t need to know a reel from a jig to enjoy it. Wander down to the harbour and you’ll likely stumble across a dance display or a singaround without even trying. And if you do know your morris from your rapper sword, you’re in good company: dance teams travel from across the country to take part.

Find the full lineup on the Whitby Folk Week website.

If you’d rather swap festival crowds for open moorland, Robin Hood’s Bay has something for you too. It’s the finish line for Alfred Wainwright’s Coast to Coast Walk, which runs around 190 miles from St Bees in Cumbria, crossing the Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors before it ends right here on our beach. It became an official National Trail in March 2026, so it’s easier to follow than ever, though it still asks a lot of your legs.

Tradition says walkers dip their boots in the North Sea the moment they arrive, just as they dipped them in the Irish Sea back at the start in St Bees. Have you done it yet?

Summer is a great time to take it on, or just a stretch of it. The Cleveland Way and the wider North York Moors offer some of the finest coastal and moorland trails you could ask for, and there’s over 150 miles of cycle routes nearby too, including the old Scarborough to Whitby railway line, known locally as the Cinder Track.