If you’re not familiar with Skegness and Mablethorpe, you’ll find lots of useful information below to answer any questions you might have about your visit to SO Festival.
Why not make a weekend of it and explore the Lincolnshire Coast as well as SO Festival, Scroll down for ideas of activities for all ages, in and around Mablethorpe and Skegness.
Click on the subject and the information will appear.
Whether you’re travelling by bus, train or car, here are the links you’ll need to find information about public transport or parking.
Why not make a make a weekend of it? Stay and enjoy the Lincolnshire Coast as well the SO Festival.
You’ll find a great range of hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, caravans and campsites on the Visit Lincolnshire Coast website.
It’s always good to know where the toilets are!
Pharmacies: Link to Pharmacies in Skegness and Pharmacies in Mablethorpe
Skegness Urgent Treatment Centre: Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Link to map
We are passionate about making arts and culture truly accessible to all and work hard to put you, our communities, and your unique needs to the forefront of everything we do. We are committed to ensuring SO Festival is an inclusive, safe and accessible space for everyone, by reducing or removing barriers to attendance.
Read more on our Accessibility page
Official photographers and videographers will be documenting SO Festival on our behalf. The images and video will be used by Magna Vitae to publicise our events in printed publicity, on our website and social media. They will be stored securely for as long as the image remains relevant to the usage purpose, the maximum is likely to be 10 years.
If you would like us to delete any photograph that you, or your child, are shown in, please email us at info@mvtlc.org.
There will be an Information Points Skegness and Mablethorpe to help you navigate the festival and answer any questions you might have (you’ll find them on the maps at the bottom of the page). You’ll also be able to pick up Festival Programmes from there (both standard and large format).
SO Festival is the perfect place to enjoy a picnic. As well as being cheaper and easier for picky eaters, having a picnic is a great way to eat outdoors, even better whilst you watch one of the wonderful performances from the SO Festival programme.
If you forget or can’t bring a picnic, buy your supplies from one of the local supermarkets. Supermarkets in Skegness and Supermarkets in Mablethorpe
There’s a extensive choice of places to eat and drink in both Skegness and Mablethrope; cafes, restaurants, pubs and kiosks. Whether you’re after a three course meal, Fish and Chips on the beach, or just a cup of tea you’ll find a wide range of choice.
If you would like to eat out, here are Trip Advisor’s recommendations for Mablethorpe and Skegness
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Plan your trip to SO Festival. As well as enjoying the festival take time to explore the beautiful Lincolnshire coast. You’ll find maps of Skegness and Mablethorpe at the bottom of the page. he Visit Lincolnshire Coast website also has detailed information for visitors to Lincolnshire.
Here’s list of great things to do in and around Skegness and Mablethorpe that are free or low cost. Click on the text to find out more.
A long, sandy beach between Skegness to the south Mablethorpe to the north. A peaceful, tranquil place, away from the noisy tourist attractions.
The Cloud Bar at Anderby Creek is the UK’s first permanent cloud watching outpost. Inside, seats are specifically designed for cloud watching and self-operated parabolic cloud-mirrors to magic the sky down to the earth.
There is a car park on Sandy Lane with access to the beach via a path that crosses the sand dunes behind the beach. Toilets are located here, as well as a beach café, and a shop in the small village of Anderby Creek behind the beach.
Huttoft Beach, also known locally as Moggs Eye, is a quiet, rural beach backed by grassy sand dunes. As well as plenty of room for beach games, the beach is used by swimmers, surfers, sea anglers and bird watchers. It is also quite popular with walkers, with a variety of good walks in the area.
There is a 150-space car park in Huttoft Car Terrace, toilets and a picnic area. There is a car terrace which pretty much allows you to park on the beach – from here, steps lead straight over the dunes towards the beach.
The perfect beach for nature lovers with its unspoilt landscape of salt marshland and sands. A designated National Nature Reserve, with a range of habitats here including tidal sand and mudflats, salt and freshwater marshes and sand dunes.
Known for its beach huts, this small coastal village is ideal for families and great for swimming. It’s much quieter than its neighbour Mablethorpe, there are regular buses from Skegness railway station and is just a short distance from Mablethorpe.
Sandilands is known for its beach huts and is also a dog-friendly beach all year round. You can park up at Roman Bank, where there are also toilets.
Great for sailing and watersports. It is located just north of Skegness and offers an unspoilt beach to anyone wishing to make the trip.
The North Sea Observatory stands right on the coast. A sand and shingle beach, this beach is a popular place for swimming and for family days out.
It is also a good place for walking as the beaches stretch for many miles in both directions. To the south, the beach leads to Skegness, which is about six miles away.
A promenade runs alongside the beach and there are plenty more facilities such as toilets, pubs, restaurants, shops and places to stay in the town of Chapel St Leonards.
There are a number of small car parks in the town of Chapel St Leonards, each one a short walk from the beach. The largest is the Well Vale Car Park, located along Well Vale Drive, about 150 meters from the beach. The beach is accessed down a short flight of steps. Whilst it may not be the ‘quietest’ of Lincolnshire’s hidden beaches, it certainly still offers something different for those wishing to make a change from their regular trips.
Ingoldmells beach is popular for swimming and for walking.
A selection of acivities for all ages in and around Mablethorpe and Skegness. Click on the name to find out more.
A trail across the fields, fens and forests of Lincolnshire, discovering QR codes and unlocking the rich stories and sounds of East Lindsey!
The project involved over 60 creatives from across the local area – from writers and actors, to illustrators and musicians – Audio Tales is an innovative, interactive arts project, that will take you on a journey across our county’s rich past, present and future.
This project was commissioned by Magna Vitae Trust for Leisure and Culture, supported using public funding from Arts Council England, via a National Lottery Project Grant.
Thank you to Writing East Midlands, The House with the Blue Door, The Pump House Recording Studio, The North Sea Observatory, Skegness Academy, lowercase theatre, all the wonderfully talented creatives and all the beautiful locations involved, for helping us tell the stories of East Lindsey.
Click on the maps below to enlarge them.