Whitby Goth Weekend draws hundreds to bi-annual event

The Press Camera Club members visited Whitby Goth Weekend (November 1 to November 3) and captured some vivid images in the seaside town which we are sharing today.

Visitors took in the sights of the town including the Whalebone Arch in North Terrace with views of Whitby Abbey across the River Esk, and around the foot of the famous 199 steps in Church Lane up to the same landmark.

Whitby Goth Weekend images from The Press Camera Club members (Image: Garry Hornby) As reported in Whitby Foghorn Magazine, it all started in 1994 with Jo Hampshire putting an advert in NME magazine asking if any goths fancied meeting in the town around the weekend of Halloween.

#whitbygothweekend #whitby #goths @gazetteinwhitby @gazetteherald pic.twitter.com/tPWVq19ySv

— Nick Fletcher (@nicklesfletch) November 2, 2024

Now, the bi-annual weekend attracts participants from all over as a celebration of gothic culture.

Over the weekend visitors were able to pick out items and shop at over 100 stalls in the Whitby Leisure Centre and Brunswick Centre alternative markets, and hear music across the metal, nu wave, glam and rock genres.

Whitby Goth Weekend images from The Press Camera Club members (Image: Nick Fletcher) Goths were also seen relaxing in the town’s cafes and pubs, where Irish author Bram Stoker sourced ideas for his vampire book, Dracula.

Stoker visited the harbour town in 1890 - and viewed the sixteenth-century ruins of the monastery, and graveyards, as the setting for the landing on these shores of his blood-sucking title character.

In the novel, and taking the shape of a black dog, Count Dracula runs up the 199 'Whitby Abbey' steps into the shadows of its ruins.

Whitby Goth Weekend images from The Press Camera Club members (Image: Garry Hornby) The weekender is now thought to be one of the most famous gothic events in the world.

Whitby Goth Weekend is next scheduled for April 24 to April 27, 2025.

Would you like to see your photographs in The Press and online?

More than 2,500 readers have joined The Press Camera Club, which launched in June 2017 and brings together talented photographers from across York and North and East Yorkshire to share their work, swap tips and take part in themed monthly prize competitions.

To join the free club, simply search for ‘The Press Camera Club’ on Facebook - we’d love to see what our region looks like through your lens.

We will feature pictures from our camera club in The Press and online regularly.

If you like seeing photos of York, please follow us on Instagram too @york.press.