A new three-day festival is set to take over Harrogate’s Valley Gardens this summer.
Harrogate Community Festival, which will be run by the organisers of Saltaire Festival and Challenge Festival in Bingley, will offer a range of family-friendly entertainment over August bank holiday.
Ian Andrews-Swailes, the chairman of Saltaire Festival and the brains behind the venture, told the Stray Ferret he hopes it will “become an annual thing”. He added:
“There’s no money for council-run events and the moment, but I think people need something like this.
“It will be a great opportunity for the community to come together. I just want to make people smile and I think this event will.”
Saltaire Festival.
There will be plenty of free events on offer, including sword fencing displays, dance performances, an outdoor cinema, theatre performances and an evening light festival.
Mr Andrews-Swailes also said there will be performances from celebrity acts, including Pop Idol winner Gareth Gates, which will be ticketed and held in a fenced off area of the space.
There will also be food and drink stalls across the festival, which are set to include a wide variety of global cuisines.
He added:
“We have found a lot of people move out of Harrogate. We’re doing this as a way of driving people back into the town and to showcase it.
“It’s just going to be a feel-good community event.”
Mr Andrews-Swailes also said he hopes to put on some pop-up events around the town centre before and during the festival to continue driving footfall.
Harrogate Community Festival will take place from Friday, August 23, to Sunday August 25.
Tickets for the paid element and further information about headline acts have not yet been released.
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