Whoever thought of staging an arts festival on the coast... in the north of England... in the middle of February? Well whoever it was... it turns out it wasn't a half bad idea after all!

A three-day event held at the seaside in Yorkshire, Coastival has welcomed many thousands of visitors to Scarborough during the off-season since its launch a decade ago and the eclectic mix of music, theatre, dance, comedy, installations and fine art it has brought to the town is quite amazing.

Every February the event not only promotes live music but also free films, theatre, art installations, concerts, activities for children and various venues around the area will continue to hold things for the remainder of February after Coastival is over.

Now in its tenth year, organisers are understandably in a nostalgic and reflective mood this year with the theme for the anniversary event being 'The Greatest of Times'.

A packed programme of events from 22-24 February includes a world premiere when acclaimed performer Belle Jones presents High Land at Woodend Gallery on the Friday and Saturday of the festival. This spoken-word piece explores what human beings are capable of when they are placed under extreme pressure... in this case being forced to flee their homes.

An evening of great music at Scarborough Spa’s Ocean Room on Saturday includes popular Newcastle soul and funk band Smoove & Turrell, making a welcome return to the festival, and the Sound of Scarborough concert on the Friday brings music from the best local bands, ahead of the release of a vinyl album by local musicians.

Movie-goers are in for a treat as Coastival serves up two 1950s sci-fi classics, The Creature from the Black Lagoon and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, on the Saturday.

Coastival Sunday offers the chance to see Scarborough on Film, a dip into historical footage from Yorkshire Film Archive; while performance highlights include a piece by Schwa called A Lark, in which this talented trio of musicians take classic poetry and set it to music for a celebration of our feathered friends.

Elsewhere during Coastival there will be performances, including the Beach Hut Theatre Company, Animated Objects Theatre Company and Morgan and West and music, including Dennis Rollins and the Mark Gordon Trio, Stone Penguin and many, many more. There will also be dozens of open studios and installations, street theatre and family activities.

For more information and tickets to Coastival events visit the website.