Festival: Goth bands resurrected for weekend of Dracula

Whitby Centenary Dracula Festival, 26-28 September

Residents of Whitby must be used to seeing the odd teenage Goth - for Bram Stoker chose Whitby's gloriously spooky Abbey as the spot where the vampire snaffled his first victim.

This weekend, however, they can expect to be overrun by modern-day ghouls, spooks and sad fake vampires. As 1997 marks the 100th anniversary of the book, Dracfest 97, a festival line-up of Goth superbands, will be playing all weekend at Stripes Farm, just outside town.

Artists featured represent the flipside of both mental health and mass popularity. Friday will open with The Damned. They will be joined by Captain Sensible and Dave Vanian. Saturday sees the cult psychedelic 60s band Hawkwind and the crazy antics of Arthur Brown, a man who happily sings "Fire" as he sets himself alight. Eighties Goth icon Marc Almond and the Stranglers will be the main acts on Sunday.

Dracfest 97, Stripes Farm, Whitby, North Yorkshire. Weekend tickets at pounds 35 including camping and parking. Credit card hotline: 0115-912 9000.