Some people love to slag Scarborough off, and this makes me angry. I was born in the town, I have moved away from the town on numerous occasions, but I always come back. Some of the locals will tell you there's nothing to do; well I'm sorry there's plenty to do in the town and surrounding area. One thing to see this weekend was the fourth Acoustic Gathering, which takes place every September in Peasholm Park, Scarborough, and what's more it's completely FREE to enter. Previous years have seen artists such as Nick Harper and Tom Hingley at the event. This year's event was headlined by Eliza Carthy.

The weather was wet, windy and very very cold. Very disappointing considering that the previous day had been glorious. Anyhow the music started at 12 noon and continued throughout the day with 22 acoustic acts getting to play on a bandstand in the middle of a boating lake.

This "gathering" is made up of many of the very talented musicians Scarborough seems to be home to, and others who have left the town are really pleased to be invited back. Some are just not from the town, but want to play in the middle of a lake!


The earlier artists, had about 15 minutes each to plug their wares. There were some gaps between artists, but quite often these were short, any longer ones were usually due to a technical hitch, but the sound crew cleared up any problems quickly. I was quite surprised by the quality of the sound, the PA wasn't huge, and it was a very windy day yet the sound was clear wherever you were in the amphitheatre.


By 5:30 I was so cold I decided that enough was enough and headed off home. Next year I will remember to wrap up warm, and take flasks of soup and coffee instead of tins of cold beer! You wait. It'll be a scorcher next year!


This being said I missed most of the best acts on the bill but I did see some fantastic musicians, one of which was only 12 years old, but sounded as if he had been playing live forever. I think it's would be fair to say that the musicians further down the bill were not any less able, talented or professional than those higher up.