News release

15 May 2019 Fisher lass hooks interest for Whitby’s new Fish & Ships Festival this weekend as new Emma Stothard sculpture revealed Whitby, 18-19 May 2019

The installation of a specially-commissioned sculpture by renowned Yorkshire sculptor Emma Stothard marks the final countdown to Whitby’s new seaside spectacular this weekend, 18-19 May.

The free two-day festival celebrates everything that’s special about the Yorkshire Coast’s magnificent maritime culture, including its heroic fishermen - and women. Emma’s new work ‘A Whitby Fisherlass’ is a life-size tribute to the women of Whitby’s fishing families, whose story may not be as well known. Located on Tate Hill Pier, it is a thought-provoking reminder of Whitby’s sea- faring way of life in the early 1900s.

“As a local lass myself, it’s impossible not to be fascinated by the fisher lasses - and overawed by the back-breaking work they did alongside the men to support local industry. I grew up on the Yorkshire Coast and I’ve never lost my childhood wonder for this very special place and its magnificent countryside inspires my work today. It’s wonderful that Whitby is coming together for the Fish & Ships Festival and showcasing how its great sea-faring heritage is inspiring local people today,” says Emma Stothard.

With only 48 hours to go before the start of Fish & Ships, festival visitors can look forward to plenty of free, top-notch entertainment, including 40 hours of live music, madcap street theatre, inspired artworks, a grand pier-side firework display, fantastic food and family fun.

“It’s a great time to be casting a spotlight on Whitby as one of the UK’s top fishing towns and seafood destinations. Our seafood restaurants are winning awards as UK’s best, and Yorkshire’s shellfish is amongst the best in the country - in demand across Europe, with Whitby being the largest supplier of scampi in the world! And it’s all thanks to all the hard-working local families who keep Whitby’s fishing legacy alive,” says festival organiser, Janet Deacon, Tourism and Corporate Marketing Manager for Scarborough Borough Council and Area Director for Welcome To Yorkshire.

Visitors to the festival will be able to explore Whitby’s fishing life first-hand, not just tasting seafood, but finding out from local experts how to catch, fillet and dress a huge variety of locally-caught seafood - and even seeing how a local 24-metre fishing trawler is built at one of the UK’s most successful boat-builders, Parkol Marine Engineering.

During the weekend, celebrity chefs Jean-Christophe Novelli and Brian Turner CBE will join local food heroes in the festival kitchen to demonstrate how to make the most of Whitby’s sensational seafood bounty, while Whitby’s finest fish restaurants and family-run fishmongers have come up with more than 50 different ways to showcase the astonishing quality and diversity of Yorkshire’s locally caught seafood in a new Seafood Trail – which can be downloaded here www.discoveryorkshirecoast.com/whitby/FishandShips19

Alongside sensational seafood cooking and demos, Fish & Ships will host what is set to be one of Britain’s largest gatherings of maritime musicians this year, as a stellar crew of some of the world’s leading shanty-singers, balladeers, folk instrumentalists and songwriters perform, non-stop from morning to night, in an extraordinary tribute to Whitby’s maritime culture. Festival headliners include Grimsby-based John Conolly, Malcolm Ward from Kent, the John Ward Trio from East Anglia, and Keith Kendrick & Sylvia Needham from Derbyshire. Visitors will also be able to enjoy the sounds of UK favourites such as South Yorkshire shanty crew Monkey’s Fist; Marske Fishermen’s Choir, the Men of Staithes; Newcastle fiddler Tom McConville; and Dick Miles, a champion of English & Irish traditional sea music. Whitby’s Fish & Ships free music timetable includes: • 17 May, 7pm ‘All Aboard’ festival opening concert at Whitby Brewery • 18 May, 10am – 10pm at Dock End • 18 May, 1.30pm – 3.30pm at Whitby Abbey • 18 May, 11.00am – 6.00pm at Whitby Brewery, including Open Session of sea songs and shanties from 11am, plus an extra evening gig from 7.30 – 10.00pm • 18 May, 2.00 – 3.00pm at Whitby Library • 19 May, 10.30am – 5.00pm at Dock End • 19 May, 11.00am – 6.30pm at Whitby Brewery, including an Open Session of sea songs and shanties from 11.00am. • 19 May, 12.00 noon – 2.00pm Song for the Sea competition. Family entertainment includes drop-in workshops to make aqua-world movies ‘Wallace & Gromit’ style with Aardman animator Virpi Kettu in Whitby Library on 18 May (10am–12pm and 1-3pm), while local artist Serena Partridge will show visitors how to cook up a felted fish supper and how to sail the seas in flip-book animation sessions on Sunday 19 May, also in Whitby library. Meanwhile, it’s all hands on deck in Whitby’s Art Gallery, as visitors help to create a giant knitted maritime masterpiece, with artists Dr Elizabeth Gaston and Dr Jane Scott. Elsewhere, visitors who dare to walk into the jaws of a whale will be surprised to discover their own personal story-telling submarine, with thrilling tales of life at sea sung by submariner, Jonah.

The quest to find Yorkshire’s champions of the sea will be decided on Sunday 19 May, when the winners of three fishermen’s challenges – to land the heaviest fish, row the fastest boat, and compose the greatest fishing song at Whitby’s Fish - will be announced. The competitions are free to watch and will take place as follows: • 10am–4pm, Whitby Sea Anglers Association has set the challenge to land the heaviest single fish. The sea-angling competition is taking place between Filey and Skinningrove, with the weigh-in held between 4pm–5pm at Whitby’s Fish Market on Pier Road, and a prize haul of £1,000 for the winner, thanks to the Quayside restaurant. • From 12 noon, the men, women and children of Whitby Fishermen’s Amateur Rowing Club will battle to win in six races against the town’s Friendship Rowing Club, starting out at sea with the finish-line at Whitby’s Fish Pier, by the Lifeboat Station. The rowing races are an old local tradition dating back almost 150 years, with both clubs founded by local fishermen to show off their boat-handling skills. • Fishermen are also seeking a new Song for Sea, either a toe-tapping shanty or a soulful sea- ballad celebrating Whitby’s fishing heritage. The Great North Songwriting Competition is open to everyone (although entrants need to register in advance), with judging taking place between 12 noon and 2pm at Whitby Library, and the winner performing alongside some of the world’s greatest maritime musicians on the main stage at the festival’s finale concert later that afternoon.

For more details about the festival visit www.discoveryorkshirecoast.com/whitby/FishandShips19. This is the official Scarborough Borough Council’s tourist board website for the Yorkshire Coast, promoting the famous holiday resorts of Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington, the North York Moors National Park and the picturesque coastal villages dotted along the East Coast of England. For more information and to book your stay, visit www.discoveryorkshirecoast.com or talk to the friendly, dedicated team at the Tourism Bureau on 01723 383636.

ENDS

For further media information or photographs about Yorkshire’s Curious Coast, or to request a press trip, please contact:

Samantha Orange or Nicola Bexon Pyper York Limited Tel: 01904 500698 Email: [email protected] or [email protected]