Events

If you're gadding about North Yorkshire and environs, you might just come across a craft fair or other event at which we've got a stall. If so, do come and say hello - whether you want to stock up on bath melts or just want to see who on earth exactly made your soap.

Each entry should tell you where we're going to be and when, along with links to an online map service showing you where the venue is and how you can get there (after all, we don't want you getting lost). Where possible, we've tried to use Google's Street View service, so you know what the venue looks like.

Where we know that an event has an entry fee, we've tried to give details - but please don't assume that because we've not quoted a ticket price that there's definitely no charge for entry.

Last updated: April 15th, 2010

2010

April 22 - 25, Thursday - Sunday
Harrogate Spring Flower Show
Harrogate Showground, North Yorkshire.
Event open 09.30 - 17.30 (Sunday: 09.30 - 16.30)
Tickets: £12 in advance, £14 on the day (Sunday entry is £2 cheaper)
We will have a stand inside the Made in Yorkshire tent. The Spring flower show is more plant oriented than the Autumn show, and apparently is the first national independent horticultural show of the season! So, if you like your garden - either working with the soil, or just sitting and admiring it with a G&T, you'll find plenty to occupy you - but make sure you visit our stall to say hello.
Directions
Harrogate Spring Flower Show Website

May 1 - 3, Saturday - Monday
Dales Festival of Food and Drink
Leyburn, North Yorkshire. Fair open 10.00 - 16.00
Tickets: Adults £7 (3-Day pass £10) Unaccompanited U16s £4 (free if with adults)
Free Parking
We love this show. It's great fun and now a major event in the Dales calendar. Okay, it might not be as big and swanky as the BBC's Good Food show in Birmingham,. but it's a grand showcase for the hugely talented food and drink producers all across the Yorkshire Dales, including cheese, cakes, beers and wine, pickles, meat, bread ... oh, and fabulous soap and beauty products (we get in under the tag of locally made sundries). It's a fabulous event: just make sure you bring plenty of bags and your appetite.
Directions
(it doesn't look much in Google Street View, but it's held in this field)
Dales Festival of Food and Drink Website

May 28 - 30, Friday - Sunday
St. Sampson's Square, York
Late-Spring York Event, organised by Made In Yorkshire
Marquee open 10.00 - 17.00
Spring is a great time to see York before the summer crowds descend. The flowers are out and the weather's usually lovely. Loads to see and do, especially for families, in addition to visiting the Made In Yorkshire tent, which is right in the middle of the historic and commercial centre. Use the Park and Rides and avoid the hassle of parking.
Directions

July 13 - 15, Tuesday - Thursday
Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate Showground, North Yorkshire.
Fair open 07.30 - 17.00
2008 tickets, on the gate: £21 adults (£20 conc.) / £10 children
(Family tickets are available. Advance booking gives reduced prices)
We will have a stand inside the Made in Yorkshire tent: if you can find it!

TIP: The Made in Yorkshire marquee is always on the main throughfare and opposite the steps down to the Food Halls. There, now you've got no excuse.

This will be our fourth time at the Great Yorkshire Show, and we never really get over the sheer size of the event (or the length of the working days!) If you're going to be visiting the show on any day, do please pay us a visit - even if it's just to say hello.
Directions
Great Yorkshire Show Website

August 4, Wednesday
Thornton le Dale, North Yorkshire.
Thornton le Dale Show, Made in Yorkshire Tent
Fair open 09.00 - 20.00
Tickets: Adults £6, Under 16s £3, Under 5s Free
A fine little show in what is perhaps the prettiest village in the Yorkshire Moors. There's always lots happening in Thornton le Dale so when they want to put on a show they do it really well. Plus, with the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors and Dalby Forest right on hand there's plenty of gorgeous countryside all about.
Directions
Thornton le Dale Website

August 27 - 30, Friday - Monday
St. Sampson's Square, York
Summer York Event, organised by Made In Yorkshire
Marquee open 10.00 - 17.00
Summer holidays are here, it's a Bank Holiday weekend, and what to do with the kids? York has masses going on. The big wheel might have gone, but the National Railway Museum is still there (and it's free), plus the Dungeon, the Jorvik centre and the walls. As usual, use the Park and Rides and avoid the hassle and expense of parking.
Directions

September 17 - 19, Friday - Sunday
Harrogate Autumn Flower Show
Harrogate Showground, North Yorkshire.
Event open 09.30 - 17.30
Tickets will go on sale mid-June
We will have a stand inside the Made in Yorkshire tent. The Autumn Flower show is a little less horticultural than the Spring one, so is a chance to do your Christmas shopping early (brownie points and a lot less stress in December). But if gardening's your passion, don't worry, there's still masses and masses to distract you from your main purpose which is, of course, to visit the Oakwood Aromatics stand and say hello.
Directions
Harrogate Flower Shows Website

September 20, Monday
Bewerley Park, nr Pateley Bridge
The Nidderdale Show - fair open all day (see website)
£8 Adults, Children under 12 free, Car Park on Site £5
The Nidderdale Show, held at Bewerley Park, is one of the biggest events of the year in this part of the Yorkshire Dales. We have a stand in the Small Traders' Marquee, so do come and see us if you're visiting the show. Lots of stuff to do for all the family and a great day out if the weather is nice (which - as everywhere - wasn't the case last year). Bouncing back from 2007's event that had no livestock, due to national Foot and Mouth restrictions, 2008 and 2009's were thoroughly good shows despite the rain. In fact, rain is fairly traditional for this show, so make sure you bring wellies just in case.
Directions
The Nidderdale Show Website

September 25 - 26, Saturday & Sunday
Masham, North Yorkshire.
Masham Sheep Fair, Town Hall
Fair open 10.00 - 16.30.
Just up the road from us and the most local show we do. When you get tired of woolly sheep, you can always head over to the Black Sheep Brewery ... or Theakston's - such a lovely place deserves two of the land's finest breweries, doesn't it?
Directions

October 28 - 31, Thursday - Sunday
St. Sampson's Square, York
York Autumn Event, organised by Made In Yorkshire
Marquee open 10.00 - 17.00
Use this opportunity to grab your Christmas shopping before the hoards make it almost impossible to keep your sanity! Use the Park and Rides and avoid the hassle of parking.
Directions

November 11 - 14, Thursday - Sunday (Four days)
Crafts For Christmas
Harrogate Showground, North Yorkshire.
Event open 09.00 - 17.00 (Sunday: 09:00 - 16:00)
Prices: £8 on the day / £7 in advance / Student £3 / Children Free
2009 was our third time at this event and we still thought it was great (although shattered after four days). It's the perfect place to do all your Christmas shopping, because not only do you get hundreds of stands in one place full of stuff you're unlikely to see on the High Street, but you'll find great prices, you can park within a couple of hundred yards, grab a bite to eat and leave in the smug knowledge that Christmas shopping is over for 2009 bar the wrapping. Plus, each ticket gets you two days entry, so you can come back if you missed something, mooch one day and buy the next, or pass your spare ticket on to a friend while enthusing about the lovely Oakwood Aromatics stuff you've bought. Look out for the Made in Yorkshire umbrellas, because that's where we'll be.
Directions
Crafts for Christmas 2010 Website (PDF of flyer available)

November 25 - 28, Thursday - Sunday (Four days)
The Guild Hall, York
Part of York's St Nicholas Fair, organised by Made In Yorkshire
Hall open 10.00 - 17.00
The Guild Hall's probably not the easiest place to find (use our directions if you've never been there before) but it's a really beautiful place - almost worth coming just for the building - and there'll be a wide range of arts and crafts to tempt you, all made by the people selling them: from bath products (of course) to lovely silk bags, pottery, paintings, photography and clothing. The St Nicholas Fair is a well-publicised city-wide festival so there's masses and masses of stuff to do and see during this long weekend.
Hint: come on Thursday if you don't like crowds in the city!
And remember - this time we're in the Guild Hall (off Lendel, near the large Betty's Tea Room and the Post Office), not on Sampson's Square!
Directions

December 2 - 12, Thursday - Sunday (Eleven days!)
St Sampson's Square, York
Christmas Shopping in York, organised by Made In Yorkshire
Marquee open 10.00 - 17.00
Back in St Sampson's Square after our brief sojourn in the Guild Hall for St Nics, Christmas Shopping is in full swing by now.

Last year, weather was fine and we had eleven excellent days (with one or two spots of rain), but two days after we packed up it started to snow and didn't seem to stop until March! But for these eleven days the streets around the marquee are full of food stands selling gorgeous things to eat and drink, plus all the lights and decorations are up making York look even more beautiful. The Park and Ride is an even better idea than usual at this time of year. As always with a Made in Yorkshire marquee, you'll find a wide range of arts and crafts, all made by the people selling them.

Last year we made many friends at this show who discovered us in the first few days and came back several more times to stock up for Christmas. So do come along and say hello, otherwise we might be just standing around in the cold all on our own.
Directions

At present, this is our last event of the year (although that might change), so if you miss it just order online and save yourself the hassle of shopping altogether: we'll be mailing right up to the last postal dates for Christmas.