So, here it is – the second annual Blue Light Weekend is upon us, twice as big as the first one, with a packed programme of attractions on land, in the sea and in the air, all with the aim of celebrating and fundraising for our local lifesaving and emergency services, writes Sam Hawcroft.
In the past few weeks we’ve been previewing various aspects of the Blue Light Weekend through in-depth features and interviews with some of those involved.
This week, we will do our best to bring together the whole schedule (which you can also find inside the front-page wraparound and on this page) as well as some practical information.
The bluelightweekend.com website and social media feeds will contain up-to-date timings, which could be subject to change because of all sorts of variables including the weather, airspace restrictions, you name it.
The four main locations on Saturday, August 10, will be Memorial Gardens, Italian Gardens, the Promenade (including the Promenade Stage) – and the sea.
The first events will be the sea swims – the one-mile starting from the RNLI station on the South Promenade at 9am, and the half-mile starting from Pier Towers at 9.30am. At 11am, 10 teams will take to the water for the raft race.
Dozens of stalls will be lining the prom – including three Greene King bars – and they will be open from around 10am, which will also be when Active Communities’ pop-up children’s games, sports and activities begin in Memorial Gardens.
In Italian Gardens, from 11am to 3pm, there will be a 30ft Army climbing tower, and there will also be a pop-up skate park on the prom during the afternoon. The Prom Stage will host local acoustic artists, the Withernsea Ladies’ Choir and the Green Ginger Garland Dancers from 11am to 4pm.
Meanwhile, a free history walk is running from 1pm, meeting at Withernsea Library and featuring a series of guest speakers. Those not taking part in the walk will be looking to the sea from 1pm, when Operation Blue Oyster – which we featured last week – gets under way.
Local lifeboat and Coastguard teams will stage dramatic exercises accompanied by an informative commentary over the PA system, which has also been boosted this year, extending a mile from the area of the old Teddy’s club to the top of Louville Avenue, so no one will miss out on the action.
Attractions on the water will also include an exhibition by rising young windsurfing star Adam Hoey, of Hollym, before culminating in a sail-past by all of the vessels taking part. They will all sound their horns – and then, at 4pm, the colour run will get under way.
This riot of powder and laughter – which you can still sign up for via the Blue Light Weekend website – will, as last year, bring the first day of the festival on the prom to a brilliantly chaotic close.
However, there will be another event on the Saturday evening for those lucky enough to have snapped up tickets. Legendary Withernsea band Them Naked Men will be reuniting at the Willows Holiday Park, supported by a brand-new band, the Alternative Solution.
As reported last week, the frontman of Alternative Solution is none other than Blue Light Weekend committee member and air show organiser Para Dave, who impressed everyone with his cameo at last year’s gig at the Meridian Centre.
The Sunday will kick off with the World Mascot Championship on the grassed area at the top of Seacroft Road from 10.30am. Anyone with a mascot costume is welcome to join in the mayhem, which will include a game of Runaround (that’s one for the 70s kids) and an “egg and spoon race” which will involve shovels and footballs.
A circus workshop will get under way at Memorial Gardens from noon, while the Army tower will once again be in Italian Gardens from 11am to 3pm. Stilt walkers will be wowing the crowds on the prom throughout the day, and there will be two circus acrobat performances at noon and 3.30pm – but from 12.30pm, it’s all about the air show.
Returning to Withernsea – and a huge hit last year – are the Royal Navy Raiders parachute team who will make the first of two jumps on to the beach (near the lifeboat station) at 12.30pm.
The Starlings aerobatic duo will demonstrate their awe-inspiring, death-defying manoeuvres at 1pm, and then the RAF Typhoon display team will roar into town at 1.30pm. This will be a fairly short display, but it is sure to leave a lasting impression, demonstrating not only the fighter jet’s awesome capabilities but also as the mighty sound of its engines.
After this, the pace will be taken down a notch as two vintage wartime biplanes take centre stage, with some graceful loops and turns – firstly Richard Stirk in the Tiger Moth at 2pm, then Martin Blaze in the Stearman at 2.30pm.
Sadly, the two Spitfires from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which had been billed as part of the Withernsea air show, will not now be attending, as was confirmed last week. The aircraft are still grounded amid the ongoing investigation into the Spitfire crash that tragically claimed the life of Squadron Leader Mark Long at the end of May.
Instead, the Blue Light Weekend will be paying tribute to Sqn Ldr Long with a minute’s applause on the prom at 3pm, which organisers hope as many people as possible will join in with. This will be followed by a display from Iain Smith in the Jubilee Pitts biplane, which, with its Union flag livery, is not only extremely eye-catching but also high-performance and built for aerobatics, so onlookers can expect even more smoke and daring mid-air manoeuvres.
Then the Royal Navy Raiders will bring the air show to a close with their second jump at 3.30pm. At 5pm, the lucky winners of the “beer mat raffle” (if you were there last year, you’ll know…) will be taken on a helicopter flight around Withernsea courtesy of Hollym pilot Martyn Taylor.
And that will be it for another year! The organisers will take a (brief) well-earned rest before planning begins in earnest for 2025, no doubt reflecting once more on what went well and what lessons can be learned for next time.
Event co-director Andy Medcalf said: “The Blue Light Weekend is twice as big as last year. We experimented with things to a certain extent last year, but the sheer size of this year’s festival has meant that we have had to plan things meticulously and liaise with numerous organisations.
“The scale of the air show has meant we were legally required to bring in a flying display director, which came at an additional cost. Among the feedback we received from last year was that people wanted more information on the day. So, this year we not only have the wraparound in this week’s Gazette, which will be handed out free of charge from their stall, the Blue Light Weekend will have a dedicated hub.
“People will be able to come up and ask us for information as well as buy raffle tickets, and we’re printing 15,000 programme leaflets which will be handed out across the weekend, including maps of the area.
“One of the observations we had last year from East Riding Council was around the lack of parking facilities, but we did some analysis on this and found out that the town’s car parks last year were actually under-utilised. Despite this, there will be additional parking at Highfield Caravans and Withernsea High School on the Sunday afternoon as we anticipate far higher crowds for the air show that day. We will be putting clear signage up for visitors coming into the town.”
East Yorkshire Buses will have additional buses on standby if the regular Withernsea service is too full, Andy added. There will be portable toilets at regular points right along the prom, while another improvement this year is that there will be less noise and smell from generators.
Andy said: “Last year there were a few stalls that needed generators, but they were quite loud so this year we have paid for a silent generator to be housed in the boating compound, with one power lead for all of them.”
There will also be dozens of people on hand to help, from the distinctive City of Culture volunteers who will be meeting, greeting and signposting, to other individuals and business teams (there will be about 10 helpers on each day from Premier Modular, for instance) assisting with everything from parking management and moving barriers to trying to manage the chaos of the mascot championship.
We don’t like to tempt fate too much with the weather, but once again this year it is, at the time of writing, looking reasonable, and if there is a bit of rain it certainly won’t be enough to dampen any spirits during what promises to be another memorable occasion on the prom.
Please come and visit us on the Gazette stall where we will be giving out some freebies – and we have learned some lessons too. This year, we have bought some weights for our gazebo so it doesn’t blow out into the sea…
