Meet the goths keeping the culture alive

This is Whitby goth weekend - where twice a year darkness descends on England's north east coast.
Everywhere you turn you’re met with goth culture, from outrageous clothing and fashion, to goth rock raves that go on until sunrise.
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The goth look and lifestyle takes many forms, with the subculture emerging from the punk era of the early 80s and manifesting itself in constantly shifting ways. Victorian, tribal and steampunk influences have joined traditional or trad goths as the festival has grown and evolved for over 20 years.
The town of Whitby has an even longer history with the gothic. The dark ruins of Whitby Abbey loom over the town imposingly. The cobbled streets make you feel like you’re living in another time. And in 1897 this setting inspired the opening chapters of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Goth weekend also serves a practical purpose for Whitby. With thousands flocking in, the event is thought to bring a million pounds to the town every time. Local businesses have responded to the demand. Black ice-cream and burgers are a new staple - and shops have emerged to celebrate the clothing, fashion and makeup synonymous with the gothic.
Subcultures come and go, but goths have continued to reinvent themselves to keep with the times. Alongside the traditional black you see influences from 50 Shades of Grey, Mad Max and cosplay as the dark and deathly gothic continues to keep itself alive in a small, isolated town in Yorkshire.
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[@matthewread7220]

Goths are typically some of the nicest people you will ever meet

[@michaelrhodes6730]

Matthew Read yea they're harmless

[@LostinDarkness69]

It's true!!!!

[@melx6585]

Same with punks x

[@mattyy101]

Yes most of the time

[@themidnightlycan8116]

Except maddie danger

[@sxdev]

you instantly know they´re open people, quality people who won´t judge you instantly and let you be you, the victorian style looks awesome, really classy, love it

[@michaelrhodes6730]

English Goths dress way cooler than American Goths haha

[@annabelgaynor9726]

Michael Rhodes that is so true

[@vallisdaemonumofficial]

As an American Goth, I don't completely agree with that. Especially considering the cheapest Pinhead® available online is shown in the first 2 seconds.

[@ethermeister222]

Vallis Daemonum as someone with common sense, the amount of money spent on dress isn’t the point

[@Cdobs08]

I agree (I'm a brit)

[@mattyy101]

@@vallisdaemonumofficial it looks really good, who cares about price?

[@RimbawanGerilya]

Seems like nice people enjoying their lifestyle without taking it too seriously.

[@thelastdaybreathinginetern1385]

I'm a black goth and metalhead guy. I've been into the goth and metal cultures for 11 years. Goths are all over the world. It's not just stigmatized to one color of people.

[@KatariaGujjar]

No goth in Asia and Africa

[@ZapRowsdower47]

​@KatariaGujjar Japan ..... Capetown... 🙄😒

[@joefirminger1810]

''It adds a bit of colour'' She says speaking of the GOTH weekend. I love that old Woman.

[@ycnexu]

0:42 Is that a tiny cute Goth baby? This day was worth living.

[@thecreativemillenial]

Whitby goth weekend is an amazing event.. been twice. everyone is really warm, friendly and welcoming and you can actually enjoy a good night out with no idiots fighting

[@mattyy101]

Sometimes punching a chav is fun though lol

[@damneddracrose4763]

These are not goths. I would love to see what music they listen to, and how they dress day to day. I can imagine they are extremely basic.

[@filipematias5127]

This is becoming more of a Dracula/Bram Stoker fans' gathering than a real GOTH weekend!

[@sdawg310]

Skip to 6:00 for actual information on goth instead of cosplayers misrepresenting the subculture

[@angelrain4783]

I've gone twice already its brilliant You meet so many amazing people and it's a time where the community really comes toghether

[@HelenaBlack80]

I’ve been to the Whitby Goth weekend a few times it’s brilliant. Such lovely people and the clothes are out of this world.

[@pubertuber3039]

I go next weekend

[@davethebrit5897]

It's marvellous that Whitby can welcome this alternative Gothic Lifestyle Seeing the costumes and different ages who wear fantastic clothing is a tonic

[@glassplanet]

Our band Glass played at WGW in 2004 and had a blast. It's an amazing culture and glad its still going strong

[@theblogginggothUK]

Skip to 5:35. They actually mention the music!

[@danielmarshall4587]

Was in Whitby for the Goth Weekend a few years ago and it was GLORIOUS.

[@ronnebulis1922]

Goth got me off drugs and is keeping me sober 🦇🤍🖤💀

[@samwilliams4207]

Goths will never die long live goth :)

[@ZaynShah871]

this is proof goth is dead

[@todd_jai8275]

Im a young goth, Ive been to whitby goth weekend 2 times. Its so good!

[@s0ckle]

Absolutely wonderful! FUN PEOPLE!

[@stuartcrossland1746]

And people that go to church are wierd?

[@s0ckle]

Some are, but I'm only talking from personal experience because I believe getting to know people before judging them. Why do you assume that none of these people go to church?

[@stuartcrossland1746]

Because its highly likely they dont go to church. Just like its highly likely that Putin had nothing to do with the Skripal poisoning in Salisbury.

[@s0ckle]

Why is it your business whether they go to church or not?

[@pubertuber3039]

I go next weekend

[@PrinceTimmySnickers]

. How incredibly depressing that an programme like Channel 4, capable of making worthy and valid social commentary are only looking for the sensational angle (Pinhead, dracula babies and the deepest darkest goths of whitby).

[@Tania-yp5qo]

None of these people are actual goths. They're part timers that dress on weekends!

[@roxanncuthbertson1819]

I'm looking forward to going in October 2019 i class myself as Gothic Victorian i'm full time goth being a woman with Trans history i get stared at anyway i love my style and i just think its my norm dress ok some just do it for a festival or gathering being a solitary witch it goes well even in Gran Canaria i wear my goth clothes even around the pool it gets some strange looks but for myself its the norm take care everyone may see you there next year x Roxann

[@gingerkickboxer6668]

Yeeees I've been there and I can't wait to go again this October I can be myself hereeee

[@brianmorrison9168]

I was in Whitby earlier this year, by pure accident the same weekend as the Goth event. I had never even heard about it before, but took the opportunity to film it. Everybody looked to be having fun and I think the locals enjoyed it too .. the fish 'n chips shops certaibnly did, judging by the queues. The next event is at the end of this month (oct 2023)

[@wendyalexander5342]

At least the public takes it well

[@vickymc9695]

Aww awesome. Really wish I could go.

[@benfletcher9659]

Whitby isn't a Goth event anymore. Anyone seeing this will Goths just dress up and walk about town. It was a music festival, you had several nights of clubs and live bands as well as a market. Most Goths avoided going out near the Abbey on the weekend due to how busy it gets with the day trippers and costumers.

[@jimharvey3371]

NO Goths whatsoever in this video...however lots of people wearing costumes enjoying themselves.

[@tommy_bedward]

The girl at 4mins IS SO ADORABLE!!!!!!! BLESS HER! She's brilliant x

[@dilutedsillystring9013]

I’ve gone every year for 9 years always fun I nearly always dress up ! 🖤

[@todd_jai8275]

*I've been 3 times! I hope I get to go after quarantine.*

[@jjjjjjjj2804]

bro this is sick asff

[@letsgetto1millwithoutvids]

That's not exactly just goth it's more punk/ steampunk

[@iseespiritshelp688]

Awww I want to go there too!!

[@filipematias5127]

Goth rules!

[@jamesgaskell3982]

I suspect many of these people are not really goths, nor support the wider gothic scene/community to any extent. I've been a goth for over 35 years and noticed many of the fancy dress crowd tend not to support goth bands/clubs too. Of course, it up to them to dress how like and turn up at Whitby twice a year and call themselves goths. Equally, however, it would be interesting to see how many of these people have actually supported the goth scene/community 24/7 and what gothic music they listen to.

[@xmorte]

yea, looks more like a cosplay convention

[@ZaynShah871]

none of them have mentioned any goth bands

[@coolercallum3601]

I really want to go one year

[@alvarovaldovinos6836]

I've been s girh since the late 80's. We never wanted to fit in. I guess you would slam me as a traditional goth....I can take that. This reminds me a bit of like a a Brazilian Carneval for goths and it looks more like gatherung of costumes than everyday clothes. In Germany, you get tons of these types at the WGT.....pity actually. I do love how positive this report is. So points there.💖

[@pubertuber3039]

I go there next weekend

[@megji3862]

i hate that people still call the way we dress as costumes

[@letsgetto1millwithoutvids]

3:20 that's alt not goth

[@Cdobs08]

This isn't the weirdest weekend, normal weekends are the weirdest

[@lunavolvaforestwitch7217]

❤❤

[@Eddy_Del_Lobo]

It's a spectical to the normies, it's a way of life for us, I'm a second generation goth 🖤🖤🖤🕯️

[@blackbat908]

I really hope to go this year. I relate sooo hard to what that woman said, about the irritating chavs, always got something to say. If anyone wants to chat, just reply and let me know, i have zero goth/alternative friends here.

[@davidberrell4725]

Fun fact.Arthur Brown one of the first goths comes from Whitby.

[@upwk7]

I have been there. It was beautifull

[@piggysmukbang5624]

Yeeeeessssss take me there

[@roxanncuthbertson1819]

I think everyone as there own spin on it i class myself as a Gothic Victorian i dress seven days a week all year around , But i am going to Whitby in October I guess its a chance for people to go outrageous i guess people were i live think i'm as cazy and as mad as a box of frogs but i love my Gothic Victorian life style xRoxy

[@vickidianacoghlan8946]

Love the 80s when Goths, Punks, Skin Heads, Mods were the NORMAL. I hate NORMAL in 2018.

[@josephinewinter]

sadly they weren't in the mid and late, i missed the early a couple of years:( plus then, if you were different you got your head kicked in, i think people are so much more open minded now, but i live in wales now, it's pretty laid back here

[@triggertrei8820]

Goths still weren't the norm. A lot of 80s goths will tell you. There was a lot of bullshit thrown at them. People are a little more open minded now so it's not as bad. And every now and again dressing the part gets popular in the mainstream until it isn't anymore.

[@jimpickens4067]

In the 80's Mods would have killed Goths in Whitby (too many people glorify Mods now) They were Rocker hating thugs

[@vickidianacoghlan8946]

@@jimpickens4067 The 60s was definitely a weird decade. You had Hippies preaching Free Love, The Cold War and then you had the Brighton punch up of 64 The Mods Vs The Rockers. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn-adnympteDrZo

[@johnbarry1965]

@@jimpickens4067 The original Mods were trying to be more continental and sophisticated, coffee bars, modern jazz and collegiate fashions. When Mod became more mainstream there was a strange notion that you had to go to seaside towns and fight "Rockers". Real Mods would have fled from fights not wanting to get their expensive clothes dirty/ripped! And wearing a parka!

[@xanderathome]

Would of been nice if Ch4 had actually made an effort to talk to the event organizers, Mainly Jo Hampshire

[@filipematias5127]

Where's Milady Black Friday?

[@myfragilelilac]

5:09 What a lovely open minded lady!

[@SoCalFreelance]

👍

[@Cdobs08]

5:14 you can tell they're from my area

[@garycollingwood4002]

🖤 FIFTY FIVE YEAR OLD VIRGIN 🖤

[@ng7054]

Yeees honey

[@griswald7156]

Good old goths….great stuff…

[@shadeie6395]

I wonder if British people like Marilyn Manson

[@goliath1961]

Cloud 4shadowing yes, we do

[@dilutedsillystring9013]

Yep !

[@jacksonmcmordie7163]

love his music!!

[@kennethmckay6391]

For the first 6 minutes of this video it is the most depressing reinforcement of tired clichés and stereotypes I have seen, and *most* of those people are in no way representative of the goth scene.

[@filipematias5127]

Kenneth McKay : I agree with you! No goths there: more like Dracula fans dressed for Halloween!

[@sleepyMe412]

Yep, and they are featuring that neo Nazi idiot in the red feather headdress.

[@garrygimmix4344]

not what goth is about just cosplay and as for that neo nazi idiot don't get me started.

[@filipematias5127]

garry gimmix : There are still some old school Batcave punk-Goths left around! We are few but we don't review ourselves in this kind of thing: our minds and souls are permanently haunted and we always dress in black in our everyday life! Massified Halloween industry cosplaying isn't Goth!

[@thebrexiteermarkh1417]

AJ neo nazi?

[@gothicblood2061]

am old skool goth there never be goth just goth wannabes

[@reesemalo]

Big yikes at the "tribal" goth

[@elliottfunkhouser4486]

As a German am I allowed to take offence at this?

[@sarcodonblue2876]

Goths aren't that weird . Most of them are the nerdy kids who didn't fit in at school.

[@ThuyPham-sr8uz]

Nước A QUỐC tuyệt vời lắm

[@jackincorporated8480]

"Something in politics, or law"

[@elizaadamson5798]

aw are you guys jealous?

[@jackincorporated8480]

Eliza Adamson No. Just no.

[@elizaadamson5798]

Unless I am mistaken, I am educated by an award winning school and now in an award winning sixth form, but almost correct.

[@jackincorporated8480]

Eliza Adamson Well done.

[@jackincorporated8480]

Eliza Adamson Well if you washed your hair, lost your morbid obsession. And maybe put on a frock and read the Bible. Then you might just save your self from turning your life in to some kind of demented post modern pantomime like this cavalcade of degenerated buffoons.

[@2TMarie]

I was "Punk" before "Goth" The only comment I have is, the people that wear "Tribal" headdresses, should NOT. Only because it is known in real Indian Tribes, that you have to "earn the right" to wear those and it is considered "disrespectful" otherwise "Stay Dreamy" :)

[@jeshkam]

Cradle of Filth got me through some pretty bleak times, especially "Coffin Fodder". It sounds horrible, but it's actually quite beautiful.

[@darkangel7589]

I’m a weird combo of fetish goth and nu goth. Idk. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@hobbyable1]

That's pin head! Pin head wasn't a goth, they liked death metal.

[@FrankenFunder]

Elvis Has left the building the bondage style clothes he wore is very industrial looking though. I think that's where they were going with it

[@anvilbrunner.2013]

Death metal is more or less Goth.

[@sdawg310]

@@anvilbrunner.2013 so Death and Cannibal Corpse are the same thing as Sisters of Mercy and Bauhaus? They're completely separate music scenes.

[@anvilbrunner.2013]

@@sdawg310 They're all macabre looking cunts with guitars & bereft of a pair of scissors. They're all the spit of each other, the musical equivalent of first cousin fuckers.

[@sdawg310]

@@anvilbrunner.2013 except they're not even related, their musical lineages and even general aesthetics are worlds apart. You're comparing apples to oranges.

[@ivanttosuckyourblood]

Where's Vincent and Jacqueline???

[@shriveledcow7364]

not the white girl wearing a native headdress 😭

[@daniellemcfarland873]

stop

[@jacksonmcmordie7163]

LITERALLY !! culture is not a costume

[@htibobharley3527]

Trad Goths aka the only true goths

[@ZaynShah871]

and deathrockers

[@jackincorporated6099]

These people need Jesus in their lives

[@leonshackleford9585]

I Hate Goths Full Stop. I Wouldn’t Ever Go to the Goth Show in Witby

[@black_skylerr7807]

Im an emo i feel scared now

[@thespiderlady]

Most of those in this film are just 'dress ups' and steampunks ...the true goths go to WGW for the bands in the evening and wouldn't be dressing in those exaggerated outfits. Media rubbish.

[@jesusislord748]

All of them

[@connor6694]

the headdresses and very disrespectful, maybe they didn't know and i hope they don't wear them anymore

[@blackbat908]

You don't know his heritage though

[@billyramone3413]

goth off

[@JK_JK_JK_JK]

😱 What The Actual FK!!! 😱 What have I just watched! 😨

[@s0ckle]

Well nobody forced you to watch it hunny.

[@connaghananthony]

Jay Kay a Gothumentary. Join the revolution 🕶🖤

[@terrencekelly1256]

People enjoying themselves in something maybe you don't enjoy

[@jesusislord748]

Pray jesus saves him

[@soldierofamerica777]

They No real!.. They fake!!..

[@vooes]

Evil pure evil.

[@3crowsinatrenchcoat]

How so?

[@suicidesettings]

peep didnt associate w these bois lil peep gave goth such a light

[@htibobharley3527]

Tomislav Mate, you wot

[@themidnightlycan8116]

The UK is looking WAY cooler than my triggered woke homeland of America

[@mariedoyle2790]

Wacky masons!