NOTHING could beat the quaint resort of Whitby when it came to the Halloween weekend.

The town’s Goth Weekend has come of age and its 21st anniversary event proved a spectacular and good-natured celebration of the alternative lifestyle.

Under the impressive backdrop of the town’s stunningly-illuminated abbey, thousands gathered to enjoy a weekend of fun – Goths, punks, emos, bikers and many others from all walks of life.

At one point the streets were so packed with festival-goers and sightseers that the famous swing bridge had to be temporarily closed to prevent gridlock between vehicles and pedestrians.

The festival has steadily grown since its humble beginnings. At the first event back in1994 it was just 40 pals gathered in the back of one of the town’s pubs.

But it has expanded hugely over the years and the twice-a-year event is now regarded as one of the world’s premier Goth gatherings and is a highly-organised weekend of music and dancing – as well as drinking and shopping.

Various bands provided live music at the Pavilion and elsewhere while the streets were thronged with festival goers in a bewildering variety of flamboyant outfits and ghoulish make-up.

The weekend’s events coincided with English Heritage’s own Halloween celebrations, centred around the ancient abbey perched high on the headland.

It was part of the setting of Bram Stoker’s immortal horror creation Dracula and was spectacularly lit-up with multi-coloured lights throughout the weekend.

And amid the ruins by the evocative graveyard the story of the vampire count was retold by costumed actors, while others told tales of witch trials and grave-robbing.

The festival is now estimated to bring in around £1m a year for the local economy and its popularity is showing no signs of slowing down.

Plans are already afoot for 2016 with a number of bands booked for the spring festival, which will run for three days from April 22 to 24. For early details of what to expect visit the website at whitbygothweekend.co.uk