TV personality and designer Wayne Hemingway says the 2023 Vintage by the Sea festival was the biggest in its 10-year history.
The 10th anniversary of the annual vintage festival was a massive success for Morecambe over the weekend with huge crowds coming from all over the UK to enjoy the event in glorious sunshine.
An estimated 50,000 people attended this year’s event, held on Saturday and Sunday (September 2 and 3).
All the business owners Beyond Radio spoke to over the weekend said they had been packed with customers.
The Midland Hotel, the Winter Gardens and the Platform - the main venues for the vintage festival - were teeming with people on both days.
Mr Hemingway, who co-organises the event, said: "We've never had as many cars here. We've never had this many traders wanting to do it. The growth in this is phenomenal, and we've never had this many people. Everything has got bigger.
LISTEN to our interview with Wayne Hemingway (pictured with his wife Gerardine outside the Midland Hotel on Sunday)
Mr Hemingway, who was born in Morecambe, brought the vintage event to the town for the first time in 2013, alongside local arts company Deco Publique.
"We'd no idea if it was going to work or if the public would want it," he said, speaking to Beyond Radio on Sunday afternoon.
"And here we with, is it 50-60,000 people? It's way topping last year. Importantly it's making a lot of people happy, it brings people together, it puts Morecambe on the map and the economic impact on the town is phenomenal.
"The legacy of a busy day meant people were continuing to have fun into the evening and the businesses were making money.
"You couldn't get a place to stay for love nor money, within 25 miles.
"People had come from Hastings, loads of people came from Scotland, London.
"So many of them hadn't been to Morecambe before. And so many said they've been every year of the 10 years. It's heartwarming, really."
But Mr Hemingway's positive words also came with a word of caution for the future of the event.
"I get stopped all the way going round here and it drives me mad, (with people saying) 'you must be making a fortune out of this Wayne, it's so busy'.
"We do not take one penny from this. We even pay our own train fares to come here. It costs us money to put this on. And a whole team of people who either don't get paid or get paid a fraction of what they should be paid, because they want to put this on.
"That's the difficulty after 10 years. We keep reflecting, how long can you keep doing something, and have the energy to do it, and never earn a penny from it. There is an issue with that."
The festival celebrates 20th century culture and brings together fashion, music, vehicles, food and drink, and entertainment for all the family.
“We are so pleased at the record numbers of people who visited Vintage by the Sea this weekend to experience the best of Morecambe Bay, alive with music, fashion and culture,” said Elena Jackson of Deco Publique.
Her colleague Lauren Zawadzki said: “The festival created a perfect weekend, filled with the joy of the seaside as shops, cafes and bars were packed to the brim, all the way down the Promenade."
A glistening Morecambe Bay provided the perfect backdrop for all things vintage, whether it be people dressed in their best bibs and tuckers from yesteryear, dancers jitterbugging the weekend away, mesmerising Dandyism performances on the Winter Gardens stage, or a huge collection of classic cars gleaming in the sunshine, and toe-tapping music from eras past.
There were so many people dressed in wonderful vintage clothing, and we spoke to Bill, Lesley, Sharon and Michael to find out what they thought of the festival!
LISTEN to our interview below.
The Vintage Mobile Cinema- the only remaining bus of its kind - returned to the festival showing old Pathe film of the former Marineland complex, just a stone’s throw from where it once entertained holidaymakers.
There was something for everyone, from youngsters watching The Wagon of Dreams and joining in one of the many family friendly workshops, t to vintage enthusiast searching out the best buys at the Vintage Marketplace, or those who enjoy being treated to afternoon tea at the Midland Hotel.
In one of the tents behind the Midland, artist Charlie Kondras was helping people create a screen print of his 10th anniversary Vintage by the Sea poster.
LISTEN to our interview with Charlie (pictured below)
There were also vintage fairground rides and a family rave, and rides aboard original Ribble buses.
And among the new attractions was the unveiling of The People’s Bandstand, a pop-up platform, commissioned by Deco Publique as a legacy project and produced by Morecambe’s Good Things Collective and friends.
In fact there was so much to see and do that the cancellation of the Spitfire flypast on Sunday afternoon owing to engine problems, didn’t spoil the fun.
“It was fantastic to see so many people in Morecambe over the weekend, said Councillor Catherine Potter, Lancaster City Council’s cabinet member for tourism.
“It was especially lovely to see families enjoying the various activities and entertainment on offer at the festival and local businesses, such as shops and cafes, benefitting from the additional footfall.”
Here are more photos from the 2023 Vintage by the Sea. More images can be found at our Facebook page.
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