Building a sustainable creative festival in Scarborough: Big Ideas by the Sea

Event details

ALL WELCOME 

About the Festival …
Big Ideas By The Sea is an environmental and creative arts festival deeply rooted in the
community of Scarborough. We explore important themes related to the environment,
people and place. The focus is on offering a range of events, activities and talks that
educate, entertain and excite the curious mind of people of all ages.

A key element is working closely with Scarborough and North Yorkshire based artists,
entrepreneurs, musicians, performers, poets, thinkers, and writers.

Our key partners and venues are St Mary’s Church, Scarborough Market Hall, St Martin’s
Church and English Heritage at Scarborough Castle. We also work with many smaller
venues across the town.

One of our written constitutional aims is to work with all the diverse sections of the
community to include disadvantaged children and community groups. We offer creative
workshops with signers and a unique community archaeological dig at Paradise, next to St
Mary’s Church. Over the last 4 years we have provided free coach transport to bring over
800 school children to the dig. This is a free event coupled with a visit to the castle to study
our rich history.

An important aspect of the festival is to work with local businesses, to help drive custom
and to help raise awareness of their business to the wider community. In 2024 we worked
closely with Vantage Kia who sponsored the Big Day Out At The Castle and were in fact
one of many businesses who could see how working together was mutually beneficial.
Our core aim has always been to bring world-class speakers to Scarborough who can talk
about the big ideas. This means our local children and community will see and hear
current thinking on all the issues which affect our environment, to inspire the next
generation of archaeologists, artists, entrepreneurs, environmentalists, filmmakers and
scientists.

www.bigideasbythesea.com

About the speakers

Kane Cunningham born in Manchester in 1961 first shot to worldwide fame in 2009 when
he bought a house on the edge of a cliff in Scarborough for £3000 to create a work of art
an environmental project. It was a bungalow destined to fall into the sea due to erosion. The council enforced a demolition order in 2013 due to concerns over danger to the public, it cost another £3000 to knock it down.

An art lecturer for 35 years he retired in 2017 to paint full time. He exhibits his work in
galleries nationally and travels extensively across the UK painting and living in a VW
camper van.  He is also the co-director of an environmental and arts festival called Big Ideas By The Sea in Scarborough which attracts International speakers to discuss the Big Ideas related to the environment and issues affecting our local and wider community. Presently he is working on a new project that follows the River Wharfe starting at Langstrothdale. Kane said, ‘Wharfedale offers some spectacular scenery to paint which inspired J.M.W.Turner between 1808 and 1824. It is a landscape unchanged over 200 years and so a place and a view Turner would be familiar with today. www.kanecunningham.co.uk

John Oxley MBE FSA has spent over four decades establishing himself as one of the UK's most respected heritage professionals and archaeologists. He studied Ancient History, Medieval History and Archaeology at the University of Liverpool, graduating in 1978, and has since dedicated his career to uncovering, protecting and celebrating Britain's extraordinary past.

He served for many years as City Archaeologist for the City of York, becoming a leading figure in the campaign to secure UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the city — a process he has been actively driving since 2006 as Secretary of the York World Heritage Steering Group. In 2021 his services to heritage were recognised with the award of an MBE, and in 2016 he received the Lord Mayor's Award for Conservation jointly with Conservation Architect Janine Riley.

A natural communicator, John has led archaeological tours and study days across the UK and beyond for Andante Travels since 2013, bringing history to life for curious travellers from all walks of life. He is also the Co-Director of Big Ideas By The Sea, an environmental and arts festival in Scarborough, working alongside artists, communities and heritage professionals to celebrate creativity, culture and the natural world.