What to do this weekend

Pateley Bridge Artisan Market

Regular weekend artisan markets at Pateley Makers Yard and King Street Art Workshops bring together independent makers, bakers and crafters from across Yorkshire. Check local listings for upcoming dates.

📍 Pateley Makers Yard & King Street

Ripon Market

Ripon's historic charter market has run since the 11th century and still fills the Market Place every Thursday from 7.30am to 3pm (a smaller Saturday market sells fruit, flowers and other local produce). At 11am the Ripon Hornblower ceremonially opens trading - a tradition stretching back nearly 700 years.

📍 Ripon Market Place

Harrogate Spring Flower Show

The spring counterpart to the Autumn Flower Show, held each April at the Great Yorkshire Events Centre - giant marquees of plants, show gardens and gardening advice to kick off the growing season. The 2026 show ran 23-26 April; 2027 dates have not yet been announced.

📍 Great Yorkshire Events Centre, Harrogate

Studley Royal Deer Rut Walks

The deer rut runs through October and November at Studley Royal, with red, sika and fallow deer roaring and sparring across the park. National Trust wildlife volunteers run guided walks to spot the deer safely - visitors are asked to keep 50m back and dogs on a short lead during this period.

📍 Studley Royal Deer Park, near Ripon

Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival

One of the UK's leading literary festivals, run each October by Harrogate International Festivals - author talks, panel discussions and book signings across venues in the town. 2025 ran 9-19 October; 2026 dates not yet confirmed.

📍 Venues across Harrogate

Harrogate Christmas Market

Around 50 wooden chalets fill Cambridge Street and the Montpellier Quarter each December with festive food, drink, gifts and entertainment. 2025 ran 5-14 December; 2026 dates not yet confirmed.

📍 Cambridge Street & Montpellier Quarter, Harrogate

Harrogate Food & Drink Festival

A free food and drink festival with street food, local producers, live cookery demonstrations and family entertainment - split across two dates each year, on The Stray in June and at Ripley Castle in August, run in partnership with the charity Mind.

📍 The Stray (June) & Ripley Castle (August)

Black Sheep Drink Cask Beer Festival

30+ cask ales from Yorkshire breweries on site at Black Sheep Brewery in Masham over a long weekend, alongside food stalls and live music. 2026 ran 28-30 April; exact 2027 dates not yet confirmed.

📍 Black Sheep Brewery, Masham

North Yorkshire Moors Railway Diesel Gala

A weekend of heritage diesel locomotives in action along the line between Pickering and Whitby, with visiting engines from other railways. 2026 ran 11-14 June; exact 2027 dates not yet confirmed.

📍 North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Pickering

North Yorkshire Moors Railway Santa Specials

A themed Christmas train experience through the North York Moors, with a visit from Santa on board. Runs through December each year; exact 2026 dates not yet published.

📍 North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Pickering

The Polar Express Train Ride

A licensed, theatrical recreation of the Polar Express story aboard the Wensleydale Railway each December, with hot chocolate, cookies and a visit from Santa - now in its seventh year.

📍 Wensleydale Railway

RHS Harlow Carr Glow

A ticketed winter light trail through RHS Garden Harlow Carr in Harrogate each year from late November to late December. 2025 ran 21 November-27 December; 2026 dates not yet published.

📍 RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate

Sculptures in the Landscape

A season-long exhibition of contemporary sculpture set throughout the Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park near Ripon, with dozens of new works added each year for the open season.

📍 Himalayan Garden & Sculpture Park, Ripon

Christmas at Castle Howard

An illuminated trail through the gardens with a different theme each year, plus seasonal decoration inside the house. Runs from November into the new year; exact 2026/27 dates and theme not yet published.

📍 Castle Howard

Eboracum Roman Festival

A family-friendly Roman reenactment festival across York's Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens and partner venues, with a free Living History Encampment as the centrepiece. 2026 ran 16-31 May with the encampment on 23-24 May; 2027 dates not yet published.

📍 Yorkshire Museum & Museum Gardens, York

York Christmas Market (St Nicholas Fair)

A long-running Christmas market through York city centre around the Minster and the Shambles, with over a hundred chalets selling food, drink and gifts.

📍 York city centre

Medieval Music in the Dales

A festival of medieval music staged in and around Bolton Abbey, with concerts exploring early music in one of the most atmospheric settings in the Dales. Exact dates vary year to year.

📍 Bolton Abbey

Forbidden Corner Halloween Trail

A themed Halloween trail through the Forbidden Corner near Leyburn, with seasonal decorations and a live-actor scare trail through the maze of follies and tunnels. Runs through October; exact 2026 dates not yet published.

📍 The Forbidden Corner, Leyburn

Frightwater Valley

A Halloween-themed event at Lightwater Valley with a scare maze, trick-or-treat trail and a dragon show, running through the October half term. Exact 2026 dates not yet published.

📍 Lightwater Valley, North Stainley

Kiplin Hall Halloween Trail

A family Halloween trail through the grounds of Kiplin Hall near Richmond over October half term. Exact 2026 dates not yet published.

📍 Kiplin Hall

Wensleydale Concert Series

A recurring season of classical and chamber concerts at Aysgarth Church, right by Aysgarth Falls, running from May to September each year.

📍 Aysgarth Church, near Aysgarth Falls

Regular weekend artisan markets at Pateley Makers Yard and King Street Art Workshops bring together independent makers, bakers and crafters from across Yorkshire. Find it at Pateley Makers Yard & King Street.

Extraordinary millstone grit formations on the moor. A National Trust property 3 miles east of Pateley Bridge, where millions of years of erosion have left 50+ named rock formations balanced in seemingly impossible positions.

Yorkshire's Little Switzerland. An 80ft limestone gorge near Lofthouse, 10 minutes up the dale.

58 acres in Harrogate with Bettys tearoom on site. One of the finest gardens in the north, 25 minutes from Pateley Bridge.

The country's best hot chocolate