Festivals to Give Yorkshire Tourism Boost

Ambitious plans to support more than 100 festivals throughout Yorkshire have been unveiled by Welcome to Yorkshire, the official destination management organisation for the county.

Festivals, worth around £500 million to the county’s economy and accounting for 10% of total visits, are vital to tourism in Yorkshire.

Tourism in Yorkshire is worth £7 billion annually and the county’s industry employs almost a quarter of a million people. There are 216 million visits to Yorkshire each year.

Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said, “Festivals are big business to the county and we are working hard to help them flourish and grow. Our work is not just about the big events like the Tour de France, but also the annual large and small festivals that help attract visitors into the county. We are supporting a wide range of festivals across Yorkshire from the Three Peaks Race to the Leeds Waterfront Festival and the Grassington Festival to the Ilkley literature Festival.”

While there are many Festivals not listed below, Yorkshire does host the following key festivals:

North Yorkshire: Harrogate Flower Show, Staithes Festival of Arts and Heritage, Tastes of Yorkshire (Ripon), Settle Storytelling Festival.

South Yorkshire: St Leger and Cliffhanger.

East Yorkshire: Beverley Folk Festival, Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival and the UK Windsurfing Championships at Bridlington.

West Yorkshire: Huddersfield Literature Festival, Wakefield Rhubarb Festival, Bradford International Film Festival, Marsden Cuckoo Festival.