Food festival cancelled over 'challenges'

A food and drink festival has been cancelled due to "too many challenges" in staging it, its organisers have said.

The Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival was set to be held in Aireville Park in Skipton between 18-20 July.

However, a number of the guests have pulled out of the festival in recent days, including Saturday Kitchen host James Martin and chef Rosemary Shrager.

Jon Arrowsmith, managing director of Cocker Hoop Creative, who organised the event, said they had "simply run out of time" to make the festival work.

He said: "It is with a heavy heart that I must admit defeat and share the news that the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival will not go ahead this year.

"This is not a decision I have taken lightly. We have worked tirelessly over the last year to stage a festival that Yorkshire could be proud of, but there were too many challenges that we could not foresee at the start of this journey and too little time to fix them."

He went on to say how the group had saved the festival from administration last year after it had been cancelled when the company behind it, Events by B3 Ltd, went into liquidation.

Mr Arrowsmith said they had since "poured our heart and soul into rebuilding and reimaging the event".

He said: "We offered 200 traders a free pitch. We lined up thousands of free masterclasses. We invited amazing chefs and music acts to join us.

"When we lost our original location (Funkirk Farm near Skipton), the clock started ticking, and even with the best will in the world, we simply ran out of time to make it work at Aireville Park.

"I'm completely heartbroken and desperately sorry for letting everyone down."

Earlier this week, James Martin and Galton Blackiston both said on social media that "circumstances outside my control" meant they would no longer be able to attend the event.

Rosemary Shrager also confirmed she would not be appearing either, although no reason was given.

Owen Diaram, who appeared on Masterchef in 2023, said it was "disappointing" that guests had been withdrawing from the festivals.

He said: "A festival of this scale is a huge task involving thousands of people. However the health and wellbeing of all the people involved must be a priority."

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