Blue Light Weekend event honours RNLI man's wish

Emergency, lifesaving and military veteran services will come together this weekend at a free event created by an RNLI volunteer who dreamed of giving back to the community he served.

Withernsea's Blue Light Weekend was the idea of Steve Medcalf, an RNLI lifeboat manager, who died trying to save his two dogs from a fire at his home in November 2022.

His brother, Andy Medcalf, said Steve had hoped the event would put Withernsea on the map.

Now Andy and other organisers are honouring those wishes, promising the "biggest and best" event yet with music, entertainment, and large-scale spectacles including an air show, 1-mile sea swim, barrel raft race, colour run and other fundraising activities.

He wanted Withernsea "to be the place to be for at least one weekend a year", Mr Medcalf said.

One of the organisers Dave Penson said Steve Medcalf was an inspiration.

Mr Penson said the Blue Light Weekend attracted approximately 7,000 people in its first year, with visitor numbers rising to about 25,000 last year.

He added that in addition to the free entertainment on offer, the weekend also provides vital fundraising opportunities for the organisations taking part.

Organisers said some of the attractions at Saturday and Sunday's Blue Light Weekend could be among the "UK's largest", citing the 1-mile (1.6km) sea-swim with more than 100 participants, a blue barrel raft race and a free air show spectacular.

They added that 500 people had already signed up to take part in a colour run, for which they had sold 1 tonne of colour powder.

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