Events & Activities 2026
Alongside the village-wide Artist Trail, Staithes Festival of Arts & Heritage 2026 brings together outdoor cinema, fossil walks, heritage exhibitions, artist demonstrations, creative workshops, music, local history and hands-on activities for all ages.
Some events are free and drop-in, while others require advance booking or payment on the day. Please check the details for each event before attending.
Festival Opening Times
Friday Preview Evening
Friday 11 September, 6pm–9.30pm
Venue: Galleries, cottages and exhibition spaces around Staithes
Cost: Free
Begin your festival weekend with our friendly Friday Preview Evening.
Explore the village-wide Artist Trail as galleries, cottages and hidden spaces open their doors for an evening of art, music and atmosphere.
Please note that not every exhibition venue will open on Friday evening.
Booking: No booking required
Village-Wide Artist Trail
Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, 10am–5.30pm
Venue: 67 venues throughout Staithes
Cost: Free
Discover 113 artists exhibiting across 67 venues as galleries, cottages, studios and hidden spaces throughout Staithes are transformed into pop-up exhibitions.
Explore painting, printmaking, ceramics, textiles, jewellery, photography, sculpture and much more.
Booking: No booking required
Evening Events
Outdoor Cinema at Kippers Corner
Friday and Saturday, 9pm
Venue: Kippers Corner, High Street
Cost: Free
Presented by: Staithes Cinema Club
Our very own Cinema Paradiso—the legendary outdoor cinema.
As the sun sets, join the gathering on the High Street opposite Kippers Corner. Bring your deckchairs and blankets for a screening of films about Staithes past and present, telling the story of our remarkable village.
Booking: No booking required
More information: www.facebook.com/staithescinemaclub
Lighting Show
Friday and Saturday evening
Venue: Around the village
Cost: Free
As dusk settles over Staithes, visitors can look forward to the festival’s lighting show, adding colour, atmosphere and a little extra magic to the village after dark.
Booking: No booking required
Fossils, Science & Nature
Staithes Rocks: Guided Rock Platform Walk
Saturday, 9.45am–12.30pm
Venue: Staithes Harbour Beach
With: Earth Science Outreach UK
Cost: £12
Booking: Advance booking required
Book tickets: Staithes Rock & Fossil Safari Tickets, Multiple dates | Eventbrite
Explore the Jurassic world on a guided rock-platform walk between Staithes Harbour and Old Nab.
The people behind the Yorkshire Fossil Festival bring together a family programme of fossils, science and creativity, with walks, talks, craft workshops and hands-on activities exploring the deep-time heritage of Staithes and the surrounding area.
Suitable for beginners and enthusiasts.
More information: Earth Science Outreach UK
Yorkshire Marine Nature Partnership
Saturday, 10am–4pm
Venue: Cowbar Staith
Cost: Free
Explore examples of Concrete Coast enhancements designed to blur the boundary between land and sea, helping coastal defences work for both people and nature.
Be inspired by coastal textures and your own relationship with the sea, then contribute to a collaborative community print tapestry.
Booking: No booking required—drop in throughout the day
Fossil Art and Palaeontology Workshop
Saturday, 1.30pm–3.30pm
Venue: Staithes Harbour Beach
With: Earth Science Outreach
Cost: Free
Get hands-on with creative activities led by creative scientists.
Part of the Staithes Rocks programme, this drop-in workshop brings together fossils, science and creativity while exploring the deep-time heritage of Staithes and the surrounding area.
Suitable for beginners and enthusiasts.
Booking: Staithes Rock & Fossil Safari Tickets, Multiple dates | Eventbrite
More information: Facebook page
North York Moors National Park: Information and Nature Activity
Saturday and Sunday, 10am–5pm
Venue: Garden of Poplar House, High Street, near Staithes Museum
Cost: Free
Visit the North York Moors National Park team to discover more about the diverse landscape surrounding Staithes.
Whether you’re looking for your next walk, local events or ways to make the most of your time in the National Park, the friendly team will be on hand to help.
You can also take part in an activity to create a growing display of positive actions and inspiring ideas for nature recovery.
Booking: No booking required
More information: North York Moors National Park | NYMNP
The Amazing Technicolour Pendulums
Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am–4pm
Venue: Cleveland Corrosion, Bank Top
Cost: Free
Discover what happens when engineering and science become kinetic art.
Watch colour, movement and physics come together as swinging pendulums create constantly changing patterns in this fascinating family-friendly display.
Booking: No booking required
Heritage & Local History
Rod Jewell’s Staithes Experience: Heritage Exhibition
Saturday and Sunday, 10am–5pm
Venue: Granary Yard Garage Studio
Cost: Free
Roll up, roll up for a continuous and rare silent film showing the arrival of the motorised Staithes lifeboat in 1924, along with reels from Rod’s treasured Victorian magic-lantern collection of unpublished slides featuring bygone Staithes in the 1890s, the Staithes Group of Artists and fisherfolk.
Immerse yourself in collector Rod’s Staithes Experience. Photographs, antiques, ephemera and bric-a-brac will be on display and available to buy.
Rod is the author of the photographic village history Staithes: Between Two Nabs.
Booking: No booking required
Bill Hinchley’s Guided History Walk
Saturday and Sunday, 11am–1pm
Meeting point: Bank Top viewpoint, Staithes Lane
Cost: Donations in aid of the Great North Air Ambulance
Booking: Advance booking required
Join lifelong Staithes resident and historian Bill Hinchley for a captivating heritage walk through the village.
With genuine local humour, personal memories and rich storytelling, Bill brings the historic fishing village vividly to life.
Book your walk:
Saturday, 11am–1pm Buy tickets – Bill Hinchley's Guided History Walk around the village - Saturday 11am-1pm – Meet Bank Top viewpoint, Staithes Lane.
Sunday, 11am–1pm -Select tickets – Bill Hinchley's Guided History Walk - Sunday 11am-1pm – Meet Bank Top viewpoint, Staithes Lane.
More information: Free video of a snippit of Bills walk - also available free to watch at Staithes Museum
Caroline Hawley Treasure Valuations
Saturday and Sunday, 11am–4pm
Venue: Poplar House, High Street
Cost: £5 per lot consigned, payable on the day
Find out more about your family heirlooms, prized possessions or boot-sale bargains with Bargain Hunt’s Caroline Hawley and her auctioneer husband, John.
Hawleys Auctioneers will be on hand to value and share information about jewellery, watches, coins, silver, paintings and objets d’art.
For larger items, please bring photographs.
Booking: No booking required—pay on the day
More Information: Hawleys
Creative Workshops & Demonstrations
Live Festival Illustrations with Amy Lipscombe
Friday, 6pm–9.30pm
Saturday and Sunday, 10am–5.30pm
Venue: Windsor House, Church Street
Cost: Prices from £20, payable directly to the artist
Commission your own A6 coloured-pencil illustration of yourself, your family or even your pet as a special reminder of this year’s festival.
Amy will take a photograph during your visit and complete your illustration later that day or post it to you afterwards.
Booking: No advance booking required
More Information: Amy lipscombeart Facebook
Spin Art
Saturday and Sunday, 10am–5pm
Venue: Singing Waters Yard, High Street
Cost: £5, payable on the day
Come and spin your own masterpiece with Ed and Al in Singing Waters Yard—great fun for the young and not so young.
Create a brilliant piece of art to take home as a memento of your visit to Staithes Festival.
Booking: No booking required—pay on the day
Painting Demonstrations with Lynton Parmar-Hemsley
Saturday and Sunday, 10.30am–4pm
Venue: Staithes Gallery, High Street
Cost: Free
Visit Staithes Gallery during the festival weekend to see painting demonstrations by artist Lynton Parmar-Hemsley throughout Saturday and Sunday.
Do call in and say hello.
Booking: No booking required
More information: www.lyntonartist.com
Chiaroscuro Portrait Relief Linocut Workshop
Saturday and Sunday, 11am–12 noon
Venue: Sunday School beneath the Wesleyan Chapel, Chapel Yard
With: Artist Ian Burke
Cost: £15
Booking: Advance booking advised
Explore the dramatic effect of light falling across one side of the face using simple relief-linocut techniques. No drawing experience is required.
Ian will provide expressive black-and-white portrait images inspired by woodcuts, which participants will transfer onto lino and carve as the first printing block. A second lino block will then be created to print the light and bring out the features through contrast and tone.
During the session, you will create your own striking chiaroscuro portrait print and explore how light can define form and expression.
Book your workshop:
Saturday, 11am–12 noon Buy tickets – "Artist Ian Burke’s Chiaroscuro Portraits Relief Linocut Workshop Saturday 12th September – Sunday School under the Wesleyan Chapel, Chapel Yard
Sunday, 11am–12 noon Buy tickets – "Artist Ian Burke’s Chiaroscuro Portraits Relief Linocut Workshop" – Sunday school Chapel Yard
More information: www.ianburkepainterprintmaker.com
Recycled Copper Ring-Making
Saturday and Sunday, 1pm–5pm
Venue: Chapel Garth, High Street
With: Bean Creative
Cost: £7 per person, payable on the day
Session length: Approximately 20 minutes
Try something a little different by making your own unique copper-pipe ring using old plumbing parts.
Get stuck in and get creative with files and hammers to produce a beautiful ring—the perfect piece of recycled festival jewellery.
Booking: No booking required
More information: Bean Creative Jewellery
Painting Demonstration with Sue Nichol
Saturday, 1.30pm–2.30pm
Venue: Laura Knight’s Studio
Cost: Free
Join artist Sue Nichol for a free drop-in painting demonstration.
Sue will show how she creates her bold and colourful paintings inspired by the Yorkshire coast and its famous sailing cobles.
Booking: No booking required
More information: www.suenicholartist.com
Family Activities
Staithes Co-op Children’s Art Competition
Saturday, 10am–4pm
Venue: Cowbar Staith
Cost: Free
Come and see the wonderful artwork created by the talented winners of the children’s seaside art competition and have a go at winning some great raffle prizes.
All funds raised will help support the festival.
Booking: No booking required
More information: Co-op
Poetry & Performance
The Stand-Up Tragedy Show
Sunday, 10.15am–11.45am
Venue: The Lifeboat Shed
Cost: Free
With: Andy Blackford, Carmen Marcus and Bob Beagrie
The Stand-Up Tragedy Show features Andy Blackford—voted 1970s Man Least Likely to Make 30—and his more talented friends, the fantastic poets Carmen Marcus and Bob Beagrie.
Booking: No booking required
More information: https://www.bobbeagrie.co.uk
Booking Information
Some events are free and drop-in, while others require advance booking or payment on the day.
Please use the booking link shown beneath each bookable event. Places may be limited for walks and workshops, so early booking is recommended.