Scarborough is one of Britain’s quintessential seaside resorts. For centuries it’s been entertaining locals and holidaymakers alike with theatre, live music concerts and sports. It comes as no surprise that Scarborough still knows how to put on a show. There are a handful of exceptional entertainment venues in town, we’ve gathered them here in one place so you can see what might be happening during your stay.
Entertainment in Scarborough
Theatre
One of the main attractions in town is Scarborough Open Air Theatre. It’s a wonderfully unique venue in Northstead Manor Gardens where the contours of the land have created a perfect natural amphitheatre. At its heart is a lake, in the middle is an island, on this island you’ll find the stage, and opposite is fixed seating for an audience of nearly 6,000. It was built in the 1930s during the heyday of English seaside resorts. Every night crowds of thousands came to see drama, opera and musicals. The theatre closed in the ‘80s, but it was reopened by the Queen in 2010 and now brings some of the biggest names in entertainment to the Yorkshire coast. Take a look at what’s on during your stay at our Scarborough South Bay hotel and pay a visit, we promise you won’t have seen a venue like it before.
The Stephen Joseph Theatre was the first ‘theatre in the round’ in Britain. For those who don’t know, theatre in the round is when the stage is surrounded on all sides by the audience. It’s commonly how theatre was performed in Ancient Greece and Rome, and if you’ve never experienced such a performance before then the Stephen Joseph Theatre is a great place to start. It’s one of the best, most celebrated theatres in the country, housed in the iconic Odeon cinema building. The SJT has an excellent reputation for curating a constantly exciting programme of new writing and classic plays both in-house and from first-rate touring companies. What’s more, Alan Ayckbourn lives locally and has premiered scores of his plays at the Stephen Joseph.
It’s well worth taking a look to see if anything is happening at the Scarborough Spa. Its programme is less frequent, however, you won’t want to miss the opportunity to see a show in the wonderful Victorian spa that established Scarborough as the first British seaside resort. The Grand Hall can fit almost 2,000 people and has become a regular venue for the popular Scarborough Jazz Festival, which takes place in September and attracts some of the best artists in the world. The Spa Theatre, on the other hand, is a 600-seat Victorian theatre which welcomes comedy acts, live music, theatre, dance and plenty more.
Scarborough Spa
Scarborough Cricket Club
Sport
When it comes to sport, we do like a spot of cricket here in Scarborough. Scarborough Cricket Club hosts the annual Scarborough Festival every September, welcoming Yorkshire County Cricket Club and putting on a mixture of first-class county matches, one day fixtures, and invitation XIs featuring some of the finest cricketers on the planet.
Alternatively, if you want to see some football during your stay, then you can always head down to the Flamingo Land Stadium to watch a Scarborough Athletic home game. The club is a bit of a young gun, having been established in 2007. However, the town has football running through its veins; the original Scarborough Football Club was one of the oldest football clubs in England, having been founded in 1879 before debt crippled the club into closure.