Visitors are expected to come to Whitley Bay in droves this Saturday as the town’s spectacular annual carnival returns, bringing with it costumes, street theatre and live music. More than 10,000 people are anticipated to line the streets to see the carnival's main attraction as it makes its way through Whitley Bay on Saturday morning.
A colourful parade will begin at 11am on Saturday 28 May, starting off at Whitley Bay Metro station before finishing on The Links at midday. It will travel via Station Road, Whitley Road, Park View and Marine Avenue on a colourful procession right through the heart of the coastal town.
The carnival is celebrating a return to its regular slot on the last Saturday in May after the pandemic put a halt to celebrations in previous years. After being cancelled altogether in 2020, the parade made a return to the streets of Whitley Bay in September last year.
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Organisers are changing things up for 2022, when for the first time the carnival will tell a story through its parade costumes. Locals heading down to the coast to catch sight of the celebrations may be taken by surprise to see the parade led by giant rats.
The story behind this year’s carnival goes: “A group of lab rats grown huge in size and intellect have escaped from a scientific research project and taken boats to a seaside town called Whitley Bay.” The parade will see ‘fat cats’ join the line-up as the rats hatch a plan to teach the greedy cats a lesson.
The colourful parade is just one part of the 10-hour celebrations in Whitley Bay throughout Saturday. Locals and visitors will also be able to catch a host of live music and street theatre performances.
At Spanish City plaza there will be music from the Young Violinists of the North Tyneside Music Education Hub, the Whitley Women Choir, the Northern Monkey Brass Band, The Baghdaddies and The Ski Band. The evening will be rounded off with an eye-catching grand finale from Spark! LED drummers.
The south end of Spanish City plaza will be home to theatre acts, including performances from street theatre group Reckless Invention and Hebden Bridge-based company Thingumajig Theatre. Visitors can also learn how to barn dance with street theatre group the Fairly Famous Family, and hear music from North East samba bands Drumatic and Drumdin.
These performers will also be making appearances along the carnival route throughout the day, and fairground rides will once again take their place across the seafront site. You can find the full list of events and timings on the Whitley Bay Carnival website .
Will you be joining the carnival celebrations? Let us know in the comments below.
