Four days of food is coming to Harewood House this summer.
The Queen's Jubilee weekend is quickly becoming a jam-packed weekend. There's everything from Live at Leeds festival to street parties kicking off the four day weekend- and that's before any of the official royal events have taken place.
Like all good celebrations, us Brits say it best with food: whether's it's a birthday cake or celebratory bottle of something fizzy, there's always a reason or an occasion to toast with full bellies and crumb-covered smiles.
Whilst Leeds doesn't have a single big tent of its own with Mary Berry, the city will be celebrating in Bake Off style with a huge food festival that's inviting foodie from across Yorkshire to celebrate the Jubilee bank holiday weekend in the only way us Brits know how.
Surround yourself with local indie businesses and up-and-coming brands at this four-day foodie extravaganza.
Called the Great British Food Festival, visitors will be able to wade through masses of cooking stalls, menus aplenty and even have a trial run in a Bake Off style tent to see if you have what it takes to follow in the footsteps of the six TV show winners from Yorkshire.
Harewood House will transform into a food-lover's dream over the bank holiday weekend to include an artisan market, street food, walk-up bars
Chefs from local restaurants and pubs will take to the stage across the four days to show you how to recreate their culinary masterpieces in the comfort of your own home, even using everyday materials and ingredients. Sharing shortcuts and tips of the trade, the light-hearted entertainment is for novices and professionals alike: running each hour 11am - 4pm.
Image: Great British Food Festival
If you're more interested in where your food comes from- or rather can come from, foraging walks with one of the UK's only accredited foragers will take place every day in small groups. Guided walks are around the festival site in a small group. The pushchair and wheelchair-friendly events last around 45 minutes to 1hr and start at 10am, 11.15am, 12.30, 2pm and 3.15pm respectively.
If that's not enough to keep the whole family entertained, there will be five kids cookery classes per day to keep the little ones on their toes and allow them to leave with their very own baked goods. Choose from either rocky road truffles or peppermint and orange pebbles and let the chefs take charge of the cooking and most importantly, the cleaning up afterwards.
Serious bakers can take their cakes in for inspection at the Cake Off event, where over 600 cakes have been cut, tasted and deliberated, but only one will be crowned winner. The free-to-enter event encourages all aspiring foodies to enter this exciting competition with yet-to-be-announced prizes.
50% of the score is obtained from our judging panel who will rate the entries on their presentation and taste. The other 50% of the votes will be scored by the general public.
Image: Great British Food Festival
At each Festival we pick members of the crowd to come and sample what is on offer, then they will hand in their scores. Once all scores have been tallied, our independent adjudicator will announce the winner.
Plus, once the judging is over all cake entries are open for anyone to sample, so even if your idea of baking is watching Mary Berry on the telly, you can still make the most of this Bake Off style event without even lifting a whisk.
If you'd prefer competitive eating to nibbling away at cake crumbs, there's Man V Food challenges aplenty here too. Enter the sausage eating contest, where competitors eat as much sausage as they can in six minutes and six seconds; the chilli challenge where contestants eat until they need to reach for their pint of milk (medics will be on hand) and even a couples 'treat challenge' where teams of two take on a mammoth sweet treat with a twist.
To enter the Great British Food Festival, entrants require a pre-booked ticket. Costing from £13.20 for adults and £7.20 for children, all tickets can be booked on the Great British Food Festival website.
Feature Image- Great British Food Festival
Eats
The family-run neighbourhood Leeds restaurant that’s about more than just pizza – it’s about community
It doesn’t take long to see why this place has become such a firm favourite with the Farsley crowd.
We finally took a trip to Grumpy's Bar and Wood Fired Pizza and safe to say, you were absolutely right about this one.
Tucked away inside Sunny Bank Mills, Grumpy’s has built a huge reputation for its incredible wood-fired pizzas, laid-back atmosphere, that more or less has a proper community feel at the forefront.
Created by sisters Alex and Cassie, the family-run restaurant was even named after their dad, 'Grumpy' himself, and that personal touch runs through everything they do.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
From supporting local community events to creating a genuinely welcoming space where you can rock up in trainers or stay for hours without realising, it feels like much more than just somewhere to grab food. It feels like part of the neighbourhood’s personality.
And then there’s the pizza.
Everything is made fresh in-house, and watching the team stretch out the dough before piling on all the toppings adds a bit of theatre to the whole experience.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
The wood-fired pizzas are definitely the stars of the show, coming out with that perfect crispy base, soft airy crust, and smoky finish that makes you immediately think, “yeah, that’s the good stuff.”
They also offer a gluten-free base, so there’s something on the menu for everyone to dig into.
But the small plates deserve their flowers too. Dishes like their burrata are a proper crowd-pleaser, served with fresh seasonal tomatoes and bread perfect for scooping up every last bit of creamy goodness.
Add in dough balls and arancini, and suddenly the table starts looking less like a couple of starters and more like a full-on sharing feast.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
One thing we loved? The personality behind the menu. A lot of the pizzas are named after famously grumpy TV and film characters, which gives the whole place a bit of humour and fits the vibe perfectly.
And while we came for the pizza, one surprise standout was the banana split dessert. Fun, nostalgic, slightly over-the-top in the best way, and exactly the kind of thing you don’t think you’ll order… until it shows up and suddenly everyone’s fighting for the last spoonful.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
What makes Grumpy’s special, though, is that it never feels like it’s trying too hard - it’s casual, friendly, and welcoming.
Add in the sunny terrace, a few drinks, and a table full of pizzas shared between mates, and it’s easy to see why people end up staying way longer than planned.
There’s no rush here, just good food, good company, and a place that quietly gets everything right without making a fuss about it.
We finally get why Grumpy's Bar + Wood Fired Pizza is such a Farsley favourite… and trust us, we’ll definitely be back.
North Star Coffee announces opening date for new site – and they’re giving away 200 coffees to celebrate
Clementine Hall
One of Leeds' most iconic brands is expanding with two city centre openings.
Coffee lovers, you're going to love this one.
North Star Coffee Roasters are one of the early pioneers of specialty coffee in the North of England and among the UK’s first B Corp-certified coffee roasters.
They've been keeping the people of Leeds awake since 2013, and you'll find their coffee across the country as well as at their current city centre locations.
One of their brand-new locations inside the Victoria Quarter will be opening next Monday 1 June.
Their new kiosk will be located outside Jo Malone London and marks the brand’s third site in Leeds.
Images: The Hoot Leeds
To celebrate the launch, North Star will be giving away 50 free coffees a day from Tuesday 2 June until Friday 5 June - a total of 200 free drinks across the opening week. Customers will be able to claim any coffee from the menu, with one free drink per person available on a first come, first served basis, each day.
Their other new site is expected to be on Great George Street, and we'll keep you updated with any news on that one as and when we know more.
Speaking about the opening, Holly Kragiopoulos, Co-founder of North Star, said: “Opening a third site in the centre of Leeds feels incredibly special for us. Leeds has always been at the heart of North Star, so being able to bring our coffee into Victoria Quarter is a huge milestone.
"We wanted to celebrate by giving something back to the city and welcoming both loyal regulars and new customers with free coffee throughout our opening week.”
Sophie Smith -
19th April 2022 
