One of Yorkshire's biggest foodie festivals is returning for another year- and there's plenty to look forward to.
Taking place from Friday 21 July - Sunday 23 July 2023, expect three jam-packed days of cookery classes, tastings, workshops and bars, live music- and that's just the beginning.
There's a star studded lineup of celebrity chefs taking to the kitchens too, with visits from Gino D'Acampo, Si King from The Hairy Bikers and Yorkshire's own James Martin inside the big top theatre kitchen.
Image: Yorkshire Dales Festival via Instagram
Image: Yorkshire Dales Festival via Instagram
There's everything you need for a full family day out. Kids can build sandcastles in the giant sandpit or head over to the children's cookery school for a masterclass in all things food before meeting furry friends at the petting farm and dressing up for the princess party.
This might be a foodie festival, but that's not stopping the organisers from bringing the festival to life with music. Tribute acts bringing the best tunes from Wannabe Spice Girls, Katy Perry, We Are Champion Queen, Take That Live alongside renowned artists DJ Gok Wan, Pat Sharp, Brutus Gold’s Love Train and The Zoots sounds of the 80s - so there's plenty of opportunity to dance day and night to feel good tunes through the ages.
Image: Yorkshire Dales Festival via Instagram
Camping
Camping is once again the perfect option for those wanting to experience the full weekend without the faff of driving to and from - and with ample space for caravans and motorhomes, you can make this a truly comfy camping experience.
Tickets
There's a whole host of ticket options, depending on whether you want to check out the celebrity kitchens, and start at £23 for adults and £15 for children over the age of 8.
All tickets can be purchased on the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival website here.
Getting There
The Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival is based in Skipton on Funkirk Farm. This is just over an hour's drive from Leeds city centre.
The festival organisers have said that there will be lots of signage to help guide visitors from the A59 and warn that "anyone coming from the Bradford direction, please do not come through Carleton Village as their will be a one way system through the town, you will need to enter the festival from the A59".
In honour of National Chocolate Week, two big brands are joining forces.
Fancy a freebie? Silly question, of course you do.
Tony’s Chocolonely and Yorkshire Tea have joined forces for National Chocolate Week to ask Brits to declare themselves a ‘Melt’...yes, really.
It comes after the brands discovering a new Gen Z dunking trend, with research finding that 80% of 18–24-year-olds say chocolate is their preferred tea-dunking treat.
To understand why the perculiar pairing has become so popular, the brands recruited Associate Professor of Psychobiology, Dr Lorenzo Stafford, to investigate what happens when tea and chocolate come together.
Associate Professor, Dr Lorenzo Stafford said: "It's fascinating to see how much thought Brits put into what makes a great dunk. Flavour, texture and temperature all shape how we experience food, and the combination of hot tea with melting chocolate creates a particularly enjoyable sensory experience.
"When it comes to dunking, tea and chocolate have great chemistry so it’s no surprise young people have embraced it."
If you want to try it out for yourself, then you can for free - but there is one catch.
From Monday 19 to Friday 23 October, anyone who walks into one of Hyde Park Book Club in Leeds and says ‘I'm a Melt’ will get a free mug of Yorkshire Tea and bar of Tony's Chocolonely.
Not only that, but the first 100 customers will also get a limited-edition ‘Melt’ cap.
Yorkshire Tea & Tony’s Chocolonely said of the partnership, “Brits love their tea and their chocolate and now the science shows why. This National Chocolate Week, we’re inviting everyone to give it a go, embrace their inner Melt and discover just how well chunky chocolate and a proper brew can work together.”
Leeds Bradford Airport strikes will NOT go ahead following ‘late offer’ over pay
Clementine Hall
This weekend's strikes at Leeds Bradford Airport have been cancelled.
Around 130 workers were set to walk out this weekend, Unite said, but this has been suspended to allow air traffic controllers to consider a new pay offer.
The Unite members planning on to go on strike were a mixture of air traffic control workers, customer experience staff, security staff and cleaners.
The workers involved in the dispute had recently come out of a four-year pay deal, with some of the departments having fallen behind other airports in equivalent roles.
Pay talks have been happening since December 2025, with the airport's formal offer not going far enough to address the lack of pay parity which led to the decision to strike.
However, as of yesterday 15 October, the workers have been given new pay offers from the airport and the strikes will not take place to allow a ballot on the offers.
Air traffic controllers and hourly paid staff are being balloted separately on their respective offers.
Unite regional officer Neil Whitaker said: "After receiving offers from Leeds Bradford Airport, we have suspended this week’s strike action in good faith to allow members to vote on pay deals.”
In a statement, Leeds Bradford Airport said: "While the ballot process continues with certain members of our frontline colleagues, we remain hopeful that a positive outcome can be achieved and that an agreement can be reached which works for everyone involved.
"Regardless of the outcome of this ballot, LBA has a robust contingency plan in place and will be operating as normal this weekend.
"Our focus remains on supporting a smooth and reliable experience for customers while maintaining safe and efficient airport operations."
Sophie Smith -
22nd February 2023 
