Morecambe Town Council

Like many in Morecambe, we were surprised and saddened to hear the news that Vintage By The Sea will not be taking place this summer.

We have always been proud to support Vintage By The Sea. We recognise the significant value this brilliant event brings to Morecambe, both in terms of stimulating the local economy and providing great entertainment. Since its inception Vintage By The Sea has helped create a vibrant and positive image of our town and introduced a huge number of new visitors to what a wonderful place Morecambe can be.

In recognition of this, just last year we awarded the festival a grant of £16,000 – the largest amount Morecambe Town Council had awarded Vintage By The Sea in recent years* – having supported Vintage By The Sea directly with £143,900 since its inception and its predecessor event (Seaside Festival) with a further £64,000 prior to 2014 – a total of £207,900.**

A funding application was not made to us for the 2025 event. However, subject to receipt of an acceptable application, we absolutely anticipated considering continuing our support for Vintage By The Sea this year.

As we said when awarding the grant last year, we can’t imagine a summer without Vintage By The Sea, and we sincerely hope that this will be no more than a year off. If the team behind the event decides to bring it back next year, we will be ready and willing to consider supporting them.

Morecambe Town Council’s commitment to supporting Morecambe’s wider festivals scene is unwavering. Last year we awarded £60,000 in grants to local festival and event producers; earlier this year we made a three-year, £75,000 funding commitment to Baylight; this week we hope to agree a budget that further increases the amount available to local festival and event producers through our Festivals and Events Grant Fund; and next month we are expecting to make grant awards to support a large number of Morecambe’s festivals and events due to take place over the coming year. So we hope there will be more positive news regarding events in Morecambe in the coming weeks.

*We have corrected this post which previously stated the grant of £16,000 was the ‘largest amount awarded to Vintage By The Sea in its history’. When the event first launched in 2014, the Town Council provided a £20,000 start-up grant, which at the time accounted for nearly 10% of the Council’s entire annual budget. This reflects the scale of the Council’s early investment in ensuring the event could get off the ground and grow into what it is today, while also demonstrating the significant support the Council has provided since.

**We have corrected this post to clarify the breakdown of the £207,900 figure previously quoted. While these were different festivals in terms of organisation (the former organised by Lancaster City Council, and the latter co-produced between Lancaster City Council and Deco Publique) they shared the same ambition – to celebrate Morecambe’s heritage and bring people together, ensuring that Morecambe remains a place where cultural events can thrive, and the Town Council has been proud to support these events consistently in their various iterations.