Why I Reckon Whitby Folk Week is Like Butlin's, Circa 1946

Whitby Folk Week is like a folkies' take on the old fashioned holiday camps.

This is meant in good fun and it may seem controversial to most lovers of folk music and dance(!), but on my first ever visit to Whitby Folk Week this August I couldn't help seeing the comparisons with J.A.R Pimlott's visit to Butlin's at Clacton in 1946.

Part of the schedule Pimlott noted in 1946

With so many activities and entertainments on throughout the week, everything has to be kept to a tight schedule. After purchasing my programme I was able to browse carefully through the itinerary and get an idea of what was on. It was then that the comparison with Butlin's struck me.

Part of the Whitby Folk Week programme

Butlin's 1946: 10am Games and Exercises.

Whitby 2015: 10am Dance workshop.

I took part in a few Longsword workshops. Not a style of dance I'm used to, so it was refreshing to not only get some exercise, but also to focus on learning something new for 90 minutes in the morning.

Butlin's 1946: 11.15am Kiddies' fun.

Whitby 2015: 10am Playtime for children.

Butlin's 1946: 8.30pm Campers' concert.

Whitby 2015: 8pm Concert / or Marathon singaround.

Butlin's 1946: 9pm Ballroom dancing.

Whitby 2015: Evening ceilidhs.

Some of the latter are 'themed' at Whitby Folk Week and fancy dress is encouraged, adding to the raucous seaside atmosphere. This years theme was 'gold'.

Visitors to the Gold Ceilidh

Butlin's 1946: Knobbly Knees contest.

Whitby 2015: A close competition between some of the North West and rapper teams in 2015!

Newcastle Kingsmen

The location by the North Yorkshire coast also gives festival goers the opportunity for time out to take a paddle, a moorland walk (not unlike the organised amble at Butlin's in 1946), and to take part in the cultural practices of the British seaside, such as eating ice creams and fish and chips.

One of the teams pretended to be on a roller coaster ride during the parade

The Whitby hotel, Rosa, has the Butlin's motto hanging in the cafe (also a Shakespeare quote!)

On the Thursday there was an hilariously lighthearted North West dance contest in which four teams competed to raise their knees the highest, dance in straight lines and race a relay, wolfing down a pork pie between runs. The winning side (the Newcastle Kingsmen) won a golden clog for their efforts and performed a victory dance for the watching crowds. It was pure holiday camp. 

Here's a link to a video of the North West Contest

Further reading:

Pimlott, J.A.R (1975 reprint), The Englishman's Seaside.

Atkinson, Sally, (2015) Whitby Folk Week, 50 Years and Counting.