HAPPY MEMORIES … BUT SAD NEWS

It is with great regret we have to announce the cancellation of the Staithes Festival of Arts and Heritage 2022 and for the foreseeable future.

Staithes has played host to eight fantastic annual Festivals of Arts and Heritage from the foundation of SFAH in 2012 through to our last festival in 2019. Thousands of visitors have thronged to the village to join residents in celebrating the unique culture, heritage and atmosphere of Staithes. Hundreds of artists have exhibited and sold work, scores of musicians have entertained us with a dazzling variety of music and song and many more speakers have given freely of their knowledge and time to widen our understanding of the natural, geographical, cultural, scientific, commercial and historical background of our magical village.

As a result of our efforts we have raised £17,546.60 in that time which we have been able to donate to local good causes

This has been brought about by the hard work of a dedicated group of volunteers, too numerous to mention by name here, but our heartfelt thanks to every one of them.

When we postponed SFAH due the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 we genuinely believed we’d be able to bring it back in 2022 and make it our best festival yet. We opened Artist Registrations at the start of January and began to think enthusiastically about how we were going to make it happen.

Since then, sadly, we’ve become all too aware of a series of pressures and problems SFAH is facing now that we can’t overcome or ignore. These problems have regrettably led us to the conclusion that we won’t be able to continue to run the festival as we have in the past.

As a committee, we have met and we are all agreed that too much has changed since 2012. Back then, we were able to put together a successful and well-run, but still largely amateur and makeshift event that dovetailed perfectly into the village as it was. We feel that the model we based the SFAH on is no longer workable and that if the festival were to come back in any form it would need a radical re-think.

We regret we must cancel SFAH 2022 and for the foreseeable future. We’ll also disband our Charitable Incorporated Organisation. Any artists who have registered will be refunded their registration fee in full. We’ll also be looking at donating our remaining funds to other local good causes.

Click here if you would like to read a fuller explanation as to why we have reached this decision.

Staithes Festival Good Causes  

The Festival has given a total of £17,546.60 to support to the following good causes:

Defibrillator maintenance

Our Lady of the Sea Catholic Church

Staithes Sports Association

Staithes Junior Cricket Club

Mizpah Coble Restoration

Staithes Community Fund

Coble Courier Community Bus

Staithes RNLI Lifeboat

St Peter's Church Repair Fund

Staithes Memorial Hall

Children's Christmas Party

Seton School Art Fund

Staithes Pensioner's Pensioners Outing

Staithes Family History Group

Runswick Rescue Boat

Roxby Church Christmas Candlelit Service

Friends of Whitby Music Centre

Fishermen's Lifejacket Servicing

Staithes Youth Group

Staithes War Memorial Fund

Staithes Festival Youth Bursary Fund

Bank Top Garden Restoration

Staithes Museum & Heritage Trust

Hinderwell Church