The Harrogate and District RoundTable Charity Beer Festival will return to the town’s Crown Hotel on March 11 and 12.
The 32nd edition of the festival will offer over 40 cask ales and 10 keg beers as well as ciders, wine, Prosecco and gin.
The festival has raised over £500,000 for local charities since it began in 1990. This year it will be supporting Samaritans and Martin House Hospice.
The event was cancelled last year due to covid.
Posting on its Facebook page, Harrogate RoundTable said:
“Let’s band together, say “Cheers!” and support our community.”
If you’re interested in tickets and wristbands for the festival, visit its website.
The RoundTable is an association of men between the ages of 18 and 45 that supports local causes.
Read more:
Santa Claus is coming to town next month!
Santa Claus is coming to town next month as part of the Harrogate Father Christmas Experience 2021.
Harrogate Business Improvement District, which organises the event, revealed today that Father Christmas take up residence in the Crown Hotel after covid scuppered his appearance last year.
Children and families can come along on 15 days between November 20 and Christmas Eve to meet Santa and be part of an interactive elf-training experience hosted by chief elf Tinsel.
In previous years, Santa has made himself at home in Harrogate at Harlow Carr Gardens and Horticap but the centrally located hotel will host his visit this time.
Harrogate BID chair Sara Ferguson said:
“It is going to a truly magical experience for children and families, one that we are looking forward to deliver, and is a major component of our 2021 Christmas campaign.
“Harrogate BID, together with a host of partners, has been working behind the scenes for many months to ensure this will be a Christmas to remember, and one that will support our retailers at what has been an extremely challenging 18 months.
“And in just a few weeks, our Christmas lights will be illuminating more streets than in previous years.
For further details, including dates, click here.
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- Ferris wheel, carousel and road train part of huge Harrogate Christmas offering
- Aim to make Ripon a focus of Christmas festivities
The Father Christmas Experience is part of what is shaping up to be a major festive offering in Harrogate this year.
The BID, which aims to increase footfall in the town centre, is also co-funding a town centre Ferris wheel, Victorian carousel, helter skelter and festive train.
It is partnering with The Rotary Club of Harrogate for the annual Christmas Shop Window competition and Harrogate International Festivals for its North Pole Post Office.
Ed Miliband and Kate Vigurs heading to Harrogate for literary festivalFormer Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, historian Dr Kate Vigurs and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, are to visit Harrogate for one of the north of England’s leading literary festivals.
They are due to appear at Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival live event, which is being held at Harrogate’s Crown Hotel from October 21 until October 24.
The line-up also includes BBC Newsnight presenter Gavin Esler, Costa Book of the Year winner Monique Roffey and Channel 5’s ‘Dogfather’ Graeme Hall.
The festival will begin with a literary lunch featuring BBC correspondent and BAFTA award-winning journalist, Paul Kenyon.
Mr Miliband, the MP for Doncaster North, will be following in the steps of his political adversary, former Prime Minister David Cameron, who headlined the festival in 2019, when he appears at the opening night.
Other writers appearing over the four days include Dr Waheed Arian, Robin Ince, Led By Donkeys founders James Sadri and Oliver Knowles, Dr Kate Vigurs, Dr Alastair Santhouse, Amy Jeffs and Melanie King
Read more:
- Author ‘over the moon’ after winning Harrogate festival’s crime novel of the year
- Jespers of Harrogate reopens after two-month refurbishment
Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, which organises the event, said:
“This festival has become one the country’s most important literary events, which gives an array of writers – which this year features leading politicians, academics, journalists, historians and activists, the chance to share their stories.
“The programme we have curated for this long weekend, set in the wonderful setting of The Crown Hotel, has been designed to entertain, inspire and surprise.”
Zoe Robinson, Raworths managing partner, said:
“Over the years, well-known figures from the world of politics, sport, acting and writing have graced the Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival stage, and this year is no exception.”
Further information about the event will be published on Harrogate International Festivals’ website here.
‘You’re banned’: Harrogate pubs introduce new sanctions against troublemakers
People caught drug dealing in Harrogate venues face 18 month bans in a new list of sanctions that comes into force today.
Harrogate Pubwatch, which represents 38 licensed venues in town, has updated its list of ban tariffs.
The tariffs state how long people caught offending in one venue face being banned from all venues that take part in the scheme.
Members of Harrogate Pubwatch, which includes pubs such as Wetherspoon and Christies Bar as well as hotel bars such as The Crown and the Cedar Court Hotel, share information and photos of troublemakers on an app.
They then have a week to vote on what action to take, with the ban tariffs acting as a guide.
Acts of violence carry a 24-month ban, sexual harassment has a nine-month ban and possession of weapons carries a life ban. Eleven people currently have life bans.
Acts of violence against venue staff, which carries a 30-month ban, has been introduced as a new category following a recent increase in incidents.
Alan Huddart, vice-chair of Harrogate Pubwatch and treasurer of Bilton Working Men’s Club, said there had been four attacks on venue staff in town since pubs reopened after lockdown.
Mr Huddart said he wasn’t sure why staff were being attacked more but the app had proved effective in taking collaborative action to keep venues safe. He said:
“At the moment we have a total of 46 people banned. There have been as many as over 100 previously.
“You could argue that lockdown has been responsible for the number declining but increasing the profile of Harrogate Pubwatch has been effective.”
Harrogate Pubwatch holds quarterly meetings with police representatives.
Harrogate Business Improvement District contributed £2,000 towards the Harrogate Pubwatch app.
Read more:
- Harrogate Pubwatch relaunches to keep out town’s troublemakers
- Harrogate BID launches new town centre app to help businesses
‘Give us a clear plan’, say Harrogate hospitality businesses
Hospitality businesses in the Harrogate district have called for a clear plan as they await the Prime Minister’s “road map” out of lockdown.
Boris Johnson is expected to announce the next steps to ease lockdown in his public broadcast later today.
For local hospitality, the most important thing is for there to be sufficient detail to allow them to plan the next steps in reopening – and that enough businesses can be opened to make the whole sector viable.
Kimberley Wilson, chair of guesthouse association Accommodation Harrogate, said reopening hotels would only be viable if other facilities were also able to open:
“Visitors want to know everything else is open before they book. One guy said to me, ‘I don’t want to come and sit in my hotel room with nothing to do – I want to know the shops are open and I can eat out’. It has to be a package.”
Dan Siddle, general manager of the Crown Hotel, said he doesn’t want to see restrictions eased and then reintroduced, and would rather wait longer until the country is “clear of the woods” before welcoming guests back. He added:
“Hospitality has suffered from March last year, and while there has been some positive support throughout, it’s important that we as an industry are not forgotten about and that that support continues. The VAT reduction, business rates cut, [and] furlough pay to support teams, could all be continued to help us through the recovery period.”
Harrogate BID said it was working on supportive measures for businesses which had been forced to close repeatedly, and will be carrying out projects including street cleaning and floral displays to make the town centre attractive again.
Harrogate BID carried out extra street cleaning at the end of the first lockdown
Chair Sara Ferguson said:
“Ideally, we would like to see all non-essential shops and the hospitality industry back open in time for Easter. This traditionally marks the start of the tourism season, and with hopefully warmer weather and lighter nights, those in the hospitality sector will again be able to make use of the pavements and other open spaces.
“However, I have a feeling the hospitality sector will be lockdown until after the holiday as the Government won’t want to face the issues it did at Christmas.
“Any rules and guidelines, national or local, must be clear and not leave room for any ambiguity which has occurred in the past. They also need to be strictly and consistently enforced.”
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- Harrogate hotels ready to offer beds for coronavirus patients
- Harrogate theatre boss hopes for covid clarity
While it is likely indoor events on the scale which Harrogate is used to seeing will be some way off, outdoor events are being planned from March onwards.
Harrogate International Festivals is working with other organisations on projects to encourage people back into the town centre from next month, if restrictions allow. Chief executive Sharon Canavar said:
“We must have made 50 plans and torn them up last year. What we’ve done this year is look at how we could put on events if rules are relaxed but there is still social distancing in place.”
Plans are also being made to stage the organisation’s larger festivals later in the year. The first of these is likely to be the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in July – though it could be under canvas with reduced numbers compared to previous years.
All the changes needed will impact on events’ viability, but HIF – which has already cut its staff numbers down to just three – is looking at the long-term picture, both for its own events and as part of the town’s overall attraction to visitors. Sharon added:
“Do we want to just survive or do we want to make sure there’s a recovery there? What will the diary in Harrogate look like after this, for the arts and for business events? It’s not just about this year, but about what we’re creating for the future.”
A plaque to commemorate how the people in Harrogate raised funds for Spitfires during the Second World War has been unveiled today.
A government campaign in 1941 asked communities to raise funds to build more Spitfires. The people of Harrogate managed to raise £7,000 in support of the Spitfire campaign and, alongside other communities, was awarded a plaque by the government.
Over time, the plaque deteriorated and was sadly lost. The Harrogate Civic Society, and individual donors, have lead the efforts to fund a replica plaque.
Local historian, Malcolm Neesam, will write for the Stray Ferret tomorrow morning about Harrogate’s contribution to the Spitfire campaign.
The new plaque will be mounted at the Crown Hotel, in Harrogate, on Monday. It was unveiled today by Lord Houghton of Richmond – former Chief of Defence Staff.
The small group invited included MP Andrew Jones, two female war veterans, members of the armed services and donors.
Molly Todd (left) and Sheila Pantin (right) are both veterans from World War Two.
Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:
“I think it’s absolutely fantastic that we will have this on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. It reflects the way the people of Harrogate came together in this moment of national emergency and contributed so much money to help the war effort. It has been a powerful and fascinating unveiling of this plaque and I look forward to to seeing it go up into location on Monday.”
Read more:
- Local historian, Malcolm Neesam, writes about the harsh realities for Harrogate residents during the war.
- Services were held across the district to commemorate VJ Day.
Stuart Holland, Co Vice Chair of the Harrogate Civic Society, said:
“The civic society are really proud to have been given the opportunity to have a new plaque I’m quite moved by the response of the donors, people have been so generous in putting the money forward. The Civic Society now have been responsible for 86 plaques in the town now. We are working towards bringing together the masses of information about the town onto our website, before we lose it.”