Scarborough Open Air Theatre (commonly abbreviated the SOAT or OAT) is an outdoor theatre in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was built in Northstead Manor Gardens in 1932, and originally closed in 1986 but was reopened in May 2010.

Renovation

In 2008, planning permission was received for a major renovation. The £3.5 million scheme to transform the Open Air Theatre was completed in May 2010. When it reopened in 2010 the capacity of the theatre was 6,500 but this was increased to 8,000 in 2017 when the lake area was covered over.

Events

The venue stages a mixed entertainment programme including music concerts, opera productions and community events. During the

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, all England football matches were shown live on a large TV screen for free. In September 2017 music promoters Cuffe & Taylor signed a ten-year deal with the borough council to bring concerts to the venue for the next ten years. 90,000 people attended concerts at the venue in 2018 setting a new audience record for the venue and bringing an estimated £7 million to the local economy. In December 2018 the venue was used to host the Scarborough Sparkle Christmas event with an ice rink and Christmas market.

Royal re-opening

The theatre was officially opened by

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

accompanied by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

on 20 May 2010.

References

External links

* {{Scarborough, North Yorkshire Theatres in Scarborough, North Yorkshire Outdoor theatres