Dubbed the Glastonbury of food festivals, the market town of Malton is set to host a Food Lovers Fest to kick off 2022.
Due to overwhelming public demand, there will be two Food Lovers Festival this year, rather than the usual one.
Set across the quaint streets of Malton, known as Yorkshire’s Food Capital, the flavoursome feast will welcome visitors from across the country to celebrate the finest produce from Yorkshire and beyond.
Home to plenty of artisan producers and award-winning independent businesses, visitors to the Malton Food Lovers Festivals will not be disappointed.
This year, expect a huge array of unique stalls with tasty treats and gorgeous gifts, celebrity chef talks and demonstrations, live music and fun for all the family. The exact line-up is yet to be announced, but across the six day event, visitors can expect only the best of home-grown goods to be in attendance.
Doubling the servings, the Malton Food Lovers Festivals will be sandwiching the summer with two events: first at the very beginning of summer, across the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend, Friday 3- Sunday 5 June 2022), and again across the August Bank Holiday weekend, Saturday 27 - Monday 29 August 2022, during that final weekend of sunshine before autumn arrives in Yorkshire.
The 2021 event was the first three-day Food Lovers Festival since Malton's festival beginnings over a decade ago. Both 2022 events will take place over three days thanks to the support that last year's festival received.
Image: Visit Malton
Benoit Blin, Master Pâtissier and judge from Channel 4’s Bake Off: The Professionals, who headlined the Main Stage of last year’s festival, commented: “Malton is a lovely place to be. It’s so nice to see people being able to come out and enjoy some street food and the atmosphere once again. I’m sure I’ll be back; it’s a fantastic place!”
If you can't wait until June to visit the foodie capital, the first Monthly Food Market of the year will take place this weekend on Saturday 12 March in Malton, which will then take place every second Saturday of the month.
Stallholders can now register their interest in attending the Food Lovers Festival on the Visit Malton website.
The Food Lovers Festival is free to attend, and a Park and Ride is available at each entrance to Malton from the A64, with a free shuttle bus service to the event.
Feature Image- Visit Malton
Business
New rules restricting the use of bikes and street trading are set to be introduced in Leeds city centre
New regulations are set to be put into place as part of the Briggate Action Plan.
Proposals for the plan, aimed at making some of the city centre’s busiest areas safer for everyone, received a huge amount of support during a public consultation last year.
Since then, the council have been drawing up the necessary regulations and signage, with the new rules now due to officially come into place over the next few months.
Once implemented, the action plan will mean a requirement to walk bicycles and e-bikes within the city centre’s pedestrianised shopping area from 10.30am until 8pm every day.
That means no surprise bicycles will try and run you over as you're doing your shopping, hooray!
The action plan will also introduce prohibitions around certain street trading activities in targeted areas, including mobile street traders.
Extended restrictions will be put into place during major city centre events including Leeds Pride, Light Night Leeds and the Leeds Christmas Market.
Anyone breaking the new rules could be given a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice.
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council, said: “The city centre welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, and our aim is for every one of them to have the best and safest possible experience of Leeds.
“Through this action plan, we’ve taken important and meaningful steps to address issues which the public have consistently told us were impacting their enjoyment of the city centre whilst also creating potential safety issues for shoppers and pedestrians.
“With these new regulations in place, our hope is that both day-to-day visits and major events will now be even more enjoyable, successful and welcoming.”
The new restrictions on pedlars are expected to be in place from Thursday 1 October, with restrictions on bikes in pedestrianised areas due to be in place by the end of the year.
Everything you need to know about the Government’s new digital ID alternative for alcohol sales
Emily Sergeant
Licensed venues across England and Wales now have the choice to be able introduce digital proof of age for alcohol sales alongside physical.
Instead of having to hand over physical ID that contains personal information, such as names and home addresses, customers now have the choice to simply provide confirmation that they are 18 or over on their phone - helping to better protect privacy and personal safety in the process.
This means that, no matter whether you're buying a drink at your favourite pub, heading to a festival, or enjoying a night out at a concert, you won’t need to worry if you've left your ID at home.
According to the Government, this new change will benefit businesses greatly too, as certified digital services are able to check that an ID is genuine and belongs to the person presenting it much easier than the alternative can, which therefore helps to reduce the risk of any fake or borrowed IDs going undetected.
Well, according to the Government, it could be as simple as a customer showing a QR code for staff to scan, or tapping their phone against a compatible reader, where staff will then receive a clear confirmation on their device that the customer has passed the age check.
This change follows a 2024 Government consultation where it was reported that 72% of respondents supported the use of digital identities for age verification when buying alcohol.
Digital Government Minister Stephanie Peacock reiterated that 'it will remain an individual or business’ choice whether to use or adopt [digital ID]' and that physical ID will 'still remain a valid way' for customers to prove their age.
"This groundbreaking change in the law will mean you do not need to carry a physical ID, nor hand over sensitive personal information such as your name or address just to prove your age, allowing everyone to feel safer on a night out," she concluded.
Sophie Smith -
10th March 2022 
