Cleethorpes music festival 'boost for tourism'

A new 5,000-capacity music festival in Cleethorpes will help boost visitor numbers to the region, a council report said.

The festival, called Docks Fest, was first announced in the autumn and will take place at the Meridian Showground (MSG) on 6 July.

It features The Lottery Winners, Feeder, Frank Turner, and headliners Razorlight.

The festival was described as a "a significant event for the borough".

A report before North East Lincolnshire Council's tourism and visitor economy scrutiny panel outlined the success of tourism initiatives in the last year.

It focused on recent bookings at the council-run MSG, which it said was hired out for 86 days across 19 events in 2023.

The music festival would "highlight the potential use of MSG and help to put Cleethorpes on the map", it added.

The council hopes to expand the tourism season from the traditional April to September period to encourage more visitors and overnight stays, which it said would benefit hospitality and tourism businesses.

The authority was also "proactively looking" at an opportunity to expand MSG's capacity, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

At the meeting, councillors were given a provisional calendar of events in Cleethorpes, Grimsby and Immingham in 2024.

They were told that despite the cost of living crisis, there were "a healthy number of bookings" for ticketed events.

Councillor Hayden Dawkins, portfolio holder for culture, heritage and the visitor economy, said: "The resort, and our town centres, are going from strength to strength.

"It really feels like we've really stepped up a league in terms of having great events for local people to enjoy throughout the year."

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