A guide to events at the seaside compiled by Janet Deacon

Kick off your shoes, feel the sand between your toes, and treat yourself to the first ice cream of the year on the sea shore. Even if beachcombing is not for you, there’s plenty else to do at the Yorkshire seaside in spring.

Call in at the Filey Folk Festival (May 2nd to 4th). Folk, blues, country and acoustic – there’s music to suit many tastes. Headlining this year are Audrey Auld and Mean Mary, all the way from Nashville, supported by Liverpool roots band The Good Intentions, at the Evron Centre. Other acts include appearing are Half Dead Clatch, Bella Gaffney, Morning Bride, Carl Woodford and Joe Solo.

In Whitby, entertainment this month centres on the town’s Pavilion – and what a diverse line-up it is. Veteran rockers Big Country play on May 2nd – and if you want a recommendation, Mick Jagger called them ‘one of the best opening bands (The Rolling Stones) ever had’. The following day, Whitby’s Apollo Players bring the Enid Blyton favourite to life with their production of Noddy (May 3rd). There’s also the annual Ironstone Line Dance weekend (May 9th - 11th) now in its 17th year.

International artistes will be heading to Whitby for the UK’s biggest gospel event – the Whitby Gospel Music Convention 2014 (May 16th -18th). Meanwhile the Whitby Amateur Dramatic Society presents the intriguing-sounding Last Tango in Staithes (May 24th - 26th).

Colossus Vibes presents The Launch (May 31st) promising a huge 20k watt ground-shaking sound system, top of the line cyber-light and laser shows and headline DJs Alex Kidd, Dark by Design, KRM and Phil Mackintosh.

In Scarborough, Oliver’s Mount is the venue for the Festival of Speed Car and Bike Hillclimb (May 3rd and 4th). At the town’s Stephen Joseph Theatre, Sticks Theatre Company reprises last year’s hit based on an amazing true story, The Hoarder (May 2nd and 3rd). Then the superb Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory pay their second visit to the SJT with As You Like It (May 6th - 10th) their production of Two Gentlemen of Verona wowed audiences at the venues last spring.

And rehearsals are well under way for the SJT’s first in-house production of the year. Adapted by Chris Monks from Andrew Martin’s book of the same name, The Last Train to Scarborough is a unique multimedia theatrical experience featuring film sequences shot in the National Railway Museum and on location in North Yorkshire (May 30th - June 14th).

They still have so many fans – Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, collectively known as the ‘Rat Pack’, produced some of the greatest music of the 20th century. Hear all your favourites in the Rat Pack Vegas Spectacular at the Scarborough’s Spa in Scarborough (May 8th).

If R&B is more up your street, you’ll enjoy Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra at the same venue. Special guests are former Spice Girl Melanie C and Soft Cell vocalist Marc Almond (May 22nd).

And they promise it will be the North East’s dance night of the year: Scarborough’s own Method bursts back on to the dance scene in style with a 12-hour clubbers’ extravaganza across three rooms at the Spa (May 31st). DJs include Dave Seaman and Darren Emerson.

Look out for a co-production from Hull Truck Theatre and Derby Theatre, Shelagh Delaney’s classic A Taste of Honey (May 20th - 24th).

Janet Deacon, is North Yorkshire area director of Welcome to Yorkshire

Website contacts

discoveryorkshirecoast.com

yorkshire.com

fileyfolkfestival.bravesites.com

whitbypavilion.co.uk

auto66.com

sjt.uk.com

scarboroughspa.co.uk