Cleethorpes festival brings community spirit to the seafront

A one-day celebration of Cleethorpes has drawn residents and visitors into the resort, with organisers saying the event helped put smiles on faces despite a chilly spring backdrop. The Love Your Town festival was staged across several parts of the North East Lincolnshire seaside town, offering a mix of creative activities, family entertainment and community events. For Lincolnshire readers, it is another example of how coastal places in the wider county area continue to use local culture and shared identity to bring people together outside the main summer season. The event was organised by North East Lincolnshire Council as a spring celebration of creativity, community and coastal pride.

Activities were spread across Market Place, St Peter's Street, Sea View Street and the beach, giving the town centre and seafront a busy feel for the day. St Peter's Church became one of the main hubs, hosting crafting sessions, a community mural, storytelling with author Katie Hopper, a drop-in animation workshop and a silent disco. Elsewhere, local shops joined in with exhibitions and window displays, while a dog show took place on the seafront. Organiser Katie-Lou Green said she was pleased by the turnout, especially given the colder weather.

She described it as lovely to see people coming out to celebrate Cleethorpes. That sense of local pride was echoed by people attending. Derek Brasted said Cleethorpes was a good community and described it as friendly, while acknowledging it had the same challenges faced by many places. Another resident, Anthony Whiteman, who lives in the centre of town, said it was nice to see plenty of activities within walking distance.

For communities across Greater Lincolnshire, festivals like this can play an important role. They are not only about entertainment, but about encouraging people to spend time in town centres, support independent shops and enjoy public spaces that can sometimes be overlooked outside peak tourist months. In a resort such as Cleethorpes, that matters. While Lincoln itself has its own calendar of cultural events, the Cleethorpes festival highlights the strength of community-led activity elsewhere in the county area too.

From church spaces and high streets to beach fronts and market areas, the format showed how familiar local venues can be used in simple but effective ways. The day may have been modest in scale, but its message was clear. At a time when many towns are working hard to strengthen civic pride and encourage footfall, Cleethorpes used creativity and community spirit to do just that. Judging by the reaction from organisers and visitors alike, it was a welcome boost for the resort and a reminder of the value of local events rooted in place.

This story was adapted by The Lincoln Post from original reporting by www.bbc.com.