Whitby Regatta public meeting - here are some of the ideas for 2025
A whole raft of ideas including opening the Whitby Regatta weekend with the grand parade were presented at a public meeting, to help plan ahead for the 2025 event.
Around 20 people turned up to the meeting at Whitby Rugby Club last night (Nov 19) to discuss volunteering, financial support, rowing, the grand parade, raft race, greasy pole, craft fairs and other topics.
The meeting generated some great ideas as well as offers of support.
Suggestions raised on the night, with the potential to be explored, included:
- live streaming parts of the event so that people can watch rowing races – which had some great photo finishes last year – on their phones
- kicking off the weekend with the grand parade, rather than having it on a Monday when many people are at work
- bringing back the tug-of-war (which had stopped due to lack of interest)
- bringing back the greasy pole
- looking into the possibility of another continental market
Chairman Ivor Greer opened the meeting and explained about some of the costs involved.
"If we don’t have the Red Arrows and air displays, the event costs £30,000 a year,” he said.
"If we do have them, it costs £40,000 to £45,000 and that’s paid for by subscribers, collections, money from the fairground and the goodwill of people.
"Without these revenue streams, we do struggle and we’re having to cut back on a lot of stuff we used to do.”
The regatta committee even now has to pay for use of crowd control barriers which had previously been free – and technology means that it has been necessary to bring in QR codes around town for people to make donations via smartphones as many don’t carry cash.
Mr Greer said they are also looking for volunteers and marshalls to help out over the weekend.
"Any marshall that joins us is a Godsend. It’s not easy work, but the enjoyment we get out of it gives me and the rest of the people a lot of pride.”
And regatta vice chairman Mike Nightingale added that if one or two marshalls were missing, the others really felt the impact.
He said regatta is “one of the few things Whitby has left” so keeping the event and the rowing together was “paramount”.
He said the request to bring back the Red Arrows in 2025 had been submitted, and they would hopefully know the outcome by March.
Mr Nightingale said the committee welcomed ideas and “were all for change” but they needed people to follow through with these ideas, with support from the regatta where needed.
Examples of newer events at the three-day carnival included the sea swimming and, last summer, paddleboarding.
Mr Greer said it would be great to bring back the baby show – one of the events that has gone since Covid – while an idea of reintroducing Miss Regatta could instead see a possible Whitby Regatta “ambassador” for the weekend.
Regatta chiefs are now looking to continue regular meetings throughout the coming months as they get busy in preparation for next year's event, which is due to run from August 9 to 11.