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TheBeached Festival was afree festival held annually inScarborough,North Yorkshire,England. After six years it had become the largest free festival on England's east coast. It last took place in its original format in 2008.
The festival started in 2001 as a small gig which gained some interest from local bands andDJs. During the second yearThe Libertines played without their front man. In 2005 the festival lasted two extra days, one of which was a film night and the other anorchestral night. In 2006 a Big Band played instead of the orchestra.
To fund the festival a small grant was obtained fromScarborough Borough Council and the rest came from corporate sponsorship.[1]
As the festival expanded more popular bands appeared on the beached stage includingThe Libertines,The Fratellis,Electric Eel Shock (Who appeared in 2003 and then returned in 2005 to play with The West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra),The Enemy,Thunder, Parva (now theKaiser chiefs),The Bluetones,The Quireboys andNine Black Alps between the years 2001 and 2006.
From the 2005 festival onwards, the first evening was a film night, with films such asLittle Voice andThe Blues Brothers being shown.
2007 saw big name sponsors paying for national media adverts in theNME. The festival was headlined byNine Black Alps andInme and included established acts such asFoals,Frank Turner,One Night Only,The Hoosiers,Amy Macdonald,DARTZ!,Alabama 3 andThe Paddingtons.
The event was set back slightly by predicted high tides, which forced the 1,500-strong crowd off the beach, onto the road for nearly an hour and a half.
In 2008,One Night Only andDodgy were the headliners with acts such as The Ryes, Flamboyant Bella,Be Quiet. Shout Loud!,Sergeant,Natty,The Paddingtons andEbony Bones also appearing. Over 35,000 people walked through the site, with nearly 3,000 people on site at any time.[citation needed] Graham Rhodes, performance poet was the MC for every Beached apart from the first one.
It was alleged a sexual assault occurred at this festival;[2] the organisers cooperated with the North Yorkshire Police investigations, which led to a Crown Court hearing. At the time of the incident, organisers were holding emergency meetings with the concessions and catering firm (who runT in the Park) who were disappointed with the turn-out. The firm packed up on the Saturday night leaving the beach without any catering provisions.
F10, a company who helped raise the funds for the festival to take place, refused to pay the organisers over £30,000 which was gained from sponsorship of the event. This left H2O Beached Ltd, the company which ran the festival heavily in debt and it was liquidated in May 2009.[3] Many of volunteers who had run the festival were left out of pocket.
In 2009 Scarborough Borough Council and The North Yorkshire Police refused to give permission for the event, partly because of safety and public disorder concerns, and because of financial issues remaining outstanding. The organiser told the press that the event would not be going ahead for personal reasons, although the Scarborough Evening News reported later that H2O: Beached Ltd had been liquidated, owing £38,000 to various creditors.
Rumours of a 2010 festival started on Facebook when the organiser suggested a date for the festival, but permission was not given and the Open Air Theatre, who were also rumoured to play host to the event did not host it. However, the event was revived at the Open Air Theatre in August 2011, albeit on a smaller scale, and with a charge for entry.[citation needed]