INTERVIEW: High quality Morecambe vintage festival set to pull huge crowds again in 11th year

With days to go before the Vintage by the Sea festival in Morecambe we've been chatting to one of the organisers about this year's highlights, the success and future of the event, and the Eden Project.

Lauren Zawadzki spoke to Beyond Radio as the team prepare to once again put on Morecambe's biggest festival, with tens of thousands expected to visit the town over the weekend (August 31 and September 1).

Lauren, from Morecambe arts organisation Deco Publique, said the festival consistently brings £1m of economic impact to Morecambe, and last year "we were edging towards £1.3m".

She also spoke about some of the new attractions in this year's festival programme, which visitors to the town and residents alike can enjoy.

"We want to stay fresh," she said.

"Vintage by the Sea is now probably one of the older festivals in Morecambe that's been consistently running, we're now into our 11th year.

"Vintage to you and me now feels like '80s and '90s. We're really exploring those later decades this year."

LISTEN to our interview with Lauren Zawadzki

Lauren talked about some of the highlights of this year's event.

They include dance lessons in a tent near the Midland Hotel, where you can learn everything from 1930s seaside dances to hip hop.

A display celebrating the history of the jukebox and '50s and '60s teen culture will be inside the old Visitor Information Centre at the Platform.

A pop-up space at Morecambe Skate Park (near the railway station) will include a skate jam competition on Sunday afternoon, and skateboarding lessons on Saturday.

Lauren said she was also delighted this year that many venues in Morecambe town centre are putting on their own 'fringe events'.

This includes live music gigs at the Alhambra this weekend (The Signatures and The Flirtations on Friday night, and The Jive Aces on Saturday night) and The Mod Cafe at Shore Thing on Marine Road Central on Saturday and Sunday.

This year's Vintage by the Sea Afterparty in the Little Big Top near the back of the Midland on Saturday night will include DJ Paulette, one of the Haçienda’s first female DJs. Tickets are going well, so you are advised to buy before the night from HERE.

There will be DJ stages at the Rotunda Bar at the Midland and outside The Platform, and The Melodrome stage in the Promenade Gardens featuring new up-and-coming bands from across the north, inspired by vintage decades but writing their own music.

Watch out too for the unique Bird Rave - a performing arts company combining bird movements with rave music! This will be on Saturday at the Dance Tent and on Sunday at the Melodrome stage.

Regular features including classic cars, the vintage hair salon and the Vintage Marketplace at The Platform are also returning.

Lauren, pictured below with her friend and Deco Publique co-owner Elena Jackson, also spoke about the challenges of putting on such a high quality festival during a tough economic climate.

"We start working on the fundraising (for the next festival) pretty much as soon as the festival is complete," she said.

"We've managed to secure more funding from certain funders this year. We are noticing that all the costs around production, safety...everything is at the point where we have to secure more funding.

"The nation is finding that everything is more expensive. There are so many festivals that are not managing to keep going. It's an industry that has suffered, and will continue to suffer, around fuel costs, around delivery costs.

"We work hard at it, and we've managed to do it this year. Every year is different, isn't it?"

She also spoke about how big an impact Vintage by the Sea has had on the local economy since it launched in 2013.

"It's about putting Morecambe in a place where it reaches that national perspective," she said.

"Quite a few years ago when Eden were first looking at a site for Morecambe, they made a presentation and they were using the Vintage by the Sea figures to show that Eden could survive here and could do well here, to show that when you do something high quality, people do come and have an amazing time.

"We very consistently reach over £1m of economic impact and last year we were edging towards £1.3m. That's about people who are spending money in Morecambe who aren't from the local area."

The new Eden Project Morecambe visitor attraction is planned for the central Promenade site near to where Vintage by the Sea is mainly held. With Eden looking to start work by the end of 2024, we asked Lauren how this might affect the festival in future years.

"Every year we look at how we use the site," she said.

"We've used the same site pretty much every year. We've expanded into places. We go further down to the Winter Gardens now and we looking at a pop-up at the skate park (this year).

"It's not that we expect that space is always a given to use. Things do change. We will react and respond when the time is right.

"We're prepared and we've had those conversations with Eden. I had an interesting conversation about Frontierland the other day and about how that could be designed into a space for arts and events. We don't stand still as an organisation. When it happens, we will respond accordingly."

Deco Publique co-organise Vintage by the Sea with Morecambe-born designer and TV personality Wayne Hemingway MBE (pictured below hosting 'Best in Show' at the festival) and his family, and Hemingway Design. Lauren, Elena and their team pull everything together from their new office at 303 Marine Road in Morecambe.

Lauren said the team are working hard and are very much looking forward to the weekend, especially as the weather forecast is for sun!

"I think the fact that the weather forecast is looking like it might just be on our side, is making things a little bit easier for us this week!" she said.

For more information about Vintage by the Sea 2024 see HERE.

And listen out for Beyond Radio's first ever live broadcast from the festival this Sunday from noon to 3pm as we present our 'Decades Roadshow' with music from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Read more: Morecambe Vintage by the Sea festival - what to look out for in 2024 - Beyond Radio

Beyond Radio to host first ever 'Decades Roadshow' at Morecambe vintage festival - Beyond Radio