Council to increase budget of Scarborough Fair by £130,000 for Open Air Theatre improvements

The £130,000 allocation is set to be spent on upgrading the utilities and services at the Open Air Theatre (OAT) and will also provide a new “project contingency sum” to support increased costs.

The OAT is set to be one of the main hubs of Scarborough Fair but council officers have found that the current electric and water supply is “now inadequate”.

Scarborough Council said that the extra funding is needed “to support increased costs” following “extensive discussions” with suppliers and contractors.

According to a report prepared for the cabinet member for inclusive growth, Cllr Liz Colling, officers “worked hard to reduce the scope of capital spend” to try and keep the project within the original budget.

However, the report states that current utility services at the Open Air Theatre are “largely inadequate to support the existing infrastructure and must be upgraded to support the new additional facilities delivered as part of Scarborough Fair”.

On Wednesday, March 22, the authority approved a £2.25m budget for the fair which was last held in the 18th Century and is now planned as a year-round programme of events.

The authority has said that instead of being a commercial event, the fair will “be the banner under which a wide-ranging and inclusive cultural programme will sit” with events planned up until 2026.

Since the OAT was opened in 2010, additional facilities have been put in place including showers and toilets to meet the needs of the touring artists which has “put pressure on existing services”.

A new and larger hospitality unit with a VIP balcony, which is set to improve the speed of service and customer experience to support Scarborough Fair and the general use of the venue, will also add further pressure on these services.

The most recent budget allocation is because of the rising costs of energy, services, and supplies, according to the authority.

The report adds: “Additional costs may also be incurred as we move forward with the capital project.

“It is therefore proposed that a small, yet robust, contingency be put in place to support any further increase in prices or unavoidable costs.”

Established under Royal Charter in 1253, the original Scarborough Fair drew merchants from all over the world to sell to hundreds of visitors each August and September.

However, competition and changing economic circumstances left it financially untenable, with the last fair held in 1788.