This story is sponsored by Harrogate Business Improvement District.

Summer may be over, but Harrogate Business Improvement District’s newest event will bring the town that feeling of non-stop fun and dancing back this month.

The inaugural Harrogate Music Weekender will showcase an array of local performers and cater to everyone’s tastes. From Mariachi bands and live DJs to rock legends and acoustic live sets, the event promises to be nothing short of spectacular.

Local hospitality businesses told the BID that trade often slows down between the summer and Christmas period, so the organisation worked its well-known creative magic and is bringing Harrogate the ultimate musical weekend to boost footfall and get people spending at the venues.

The opening Ibiza-themed night will transport you to the white sandy beaches of the Balearic Coast. If you’ve been dreaming of a sundowner at Café Mambo, then you’re in luck! The event, which will be held at The Yorkshire Hotel, will be soundtracked by DJ Mark Green’s chilled house beats. So, grab your friends and your sunglasses because you’ll never experience Ibiza so cheap again…

The following night will welcome Singo Bingo at The Crown Hotel and promises to be a night of non-stop laughter. It’s bingo with a twist and swaps pencils for music. Expect throwback hits, chart-topping anthems, and lots of prizes to be won with a new favourite party game. Get your singing voices ready and have the time of your life at Harrogate BID’s second night to remember.

But the weekend doesn’t end there…

Discover the ABBA Tribute Night at Doubletree by Hilton Majestic Hotel & Spa; live DJs at Piccolino and Foundry Project; local indie performers at Husk, Manahatta and The Den; a performance from an inclusive band at Artizan Café – and so much more!

Bethany Allen, Business and Marketing Executive at Harrogate BID, said:

“A number of our BID members fed back to us that October can sometimes be a bit of a challenging gap between the summer and Christmas.

“With the confidence of a new 5-year term the BID team set about launching a new fun and exciting campaign that will showcase Harrogate in a different light.

“We are very excited to launch the first ever Harrogate Music Weekender and, with around 30 venues showing interest in being involved, it should be a weekend to remember!”

Visitors from near and far can expect to see a spotlight on Harrogate’s spectacular range of hospitality sites, a weekend of rolling music, and lots of special offers along the way too.

Bethany continued:

“People can expect three days of non-stop fun!”

Harrogate Music Weekender will also offer immersive performances and street entertainment – including a walking DJ booth.

Bobs Cormak, Manager at The Den, added:

“I can’t wait for the Harrogate Music Weekender!

“It’s awesome to see our town rallying behind musicians, especially the venues that are taking on the challenge of hosting live music for the first time.

“I’ll, of course, be busy down in The Den – I’m very jealous of everyone who gets to explore the town centre, catching the fantastic acts along the way! It’s going to be an incredible weekend.”

Harrogate Music Weekender will take place on Friday, October 13 to Sunday, October 15.

Tickets can be bought online now for the Ibiza and Singo Bingo events — both events are 18+.

Prices start at £5 and include one free drink. Those wishing to attend both events can get a special offer ticket for just £8. The rest of the events are free to attend.

To view the full schedule for Harrogate Music Weekender click here.

To find out more about Harrogate BID and its dedication to the town centre, visit harrogatebid.co.uk, or call 01423 582030 to speak to the team directly.

Harrogate Business Improvement District is preparing to host the town’s first three-day music weekend.

Harrogate Music Weekender will include live performances, street entertainers and special offers to drive footfall to the town’s hospitality venues.

The weekender, from Friday, October 13 to Sunday, October 15, will begin with an Ibiza-themed event at The Yorkshire Hotel, followed by singo bingo — a mixture of bingo and music — at The Crown Hotel the following night.

With more acts to be revealed, visitors can also expect live performances from local musicians and artists at The Den, Piccolino, and Revolucion de Cuba.

A walking DJ booth and immersive street performances will also be on offer over the weekend.

The BID, which is funded by a levy paid by town centre businesses, organises initiatives that boost the town centre.

BID members in the hospitality industry told the organisation trade dips between summer and Christmas – leaving them with a gap ahead of the festive season.

It hopes the event will combat this by encouraging locals and tourists to spend more time in the town centre.

The weekend will be soundtracked by a range of music from rock and acoustic to live DJs and throwback hits.

Bethany Allen, business and marketing executive at Harrogate BID, said:

“A number of our BID members fed back to us that October can sometimes be a bit of a challenging gap between the summer and Christmas.

“With the confidence of a new five-year term, the BID team set about launching a new fun and exciting campaign that will showcase Harrogate in a different light.

“We are very excited to launch the first ever Harrogate Music Weekender and, with around 30 venues showing interest in being involved, it should be a weekend to remember.”

Bobs Cormack, manager at The Den, added:

“It’s awesome to see our town rallying behind musicians, especially the venues that are taking on the challenge of hosting live music for the first time.

“I’ll, of course, be busy down in The Den – I’m very jealous of everyone who gets to explore the town centre, catching the fantastic acts along the way. It’s going to be an incredible weekend.”

The two opening events are ticketed and bookings can be made online.

The rest of the events are free to attend.

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The Yorkshire Kardashians ventured to Harrogate for a “reet posh” weekend away in a recent social media video.

The creator of the videos, Steff Todd, shares the lives of the northern characters on Facebook and Instagram – from being banned from Amber Cars to family trips t’Asda.

The video follows the Kar-Jenner clan on their jollies as they explore all the town has to offer, including a day at the Great Yorkshire Show and two-for-one cocktails at The Yorkshire Hotel – all thanks to a Groupon deal.

The newlywed Kourtney and Travis Barker are pictured ice-cream-in hand outside the Black Sheep Bar at the showground, while ‘momager’ Kris Jenner is heckling Emmerdale’s Paddy Kirk in the sheep ring with repeated ‘ey-up Paddy’s!’

Kylie and Kendall Jenner are then seen walking a multitude of dogs in the town complaining about their mother ‘getting half-cut at Fountains Abbey’ and planning their ‘cocktails with the lasses’ later that day.

The family even swoon over a house near Risplith as ‘it looks like the Omaze house’, which Kris reassures Khloe she “put a tenner on to win last night, lass”.

As their weekend continues, the family prepare for the main event: two-for-one cocktails at the “reet posh place”, the Yorkshire Hotel. Although, not before Kourtney asks the hotel staff if there’s a vending machine nearby for her husband is “right hungry”.

When speaking to a friend who has recently moved to Harrogate, eldest Kourtney adds:

“So, you live in ‘ere in Harrogate? Flippin ‘ell…you’ve done well, haven’t you?”

The family bring their Harrogate weekend to a close with a trip to Bettys, where they have a “stunning view, even with the roadworks overlooking the war memorial and a glass of Prosecco in hand”.

The light-hearted video shows Harrogate in all its glory, with shots of the town centre, the Stray and villages across the district.

Comedian and impressionist Steff Todd told the Stray Ferret she began her Kardashian videos in lockdown, when she decided to combine Kylie Jenner with a Yorkshire accent.

The fictitious characters have also travelled to York, Ilkley Moor and Whitby.

The Harrogate video has amassed nearly 40,000 likes on social media.

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The man behind the Free Walking Tour of Harrogate has launched a Boozy Tour in which people can enjoy alcohol whilst taking in the town’s history.

Harry Satloka grew up living in pubs with his landlord parents and said he had always been fascinated by their history, as well as by alcohol.

Over the past year, he has researched all types of alcohol including beer, champagne and gin to create a Boozy Tour which will take participants to four different venues for tastings.

The tour begins at the Old Bell where people will be offered three different beers and canapes. It then moves to Hales Bar where people will get the chance to taste champagne before heading to the Yorkshire Hotel for a gin tasting experience in the rooftop Sky Bar. Finally, they will go to North Bar for cocktails and charcuterie.

At each venue, Mr Satloka will tell the history of each type of alcohol as well as the venue. He said:

“It’s definitely not a booze cruise, it’s more of a cultural education experience with the benefit of getting a little tipsy.”

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The tour, which costs £55 per person, takes about three hours, with 45 minutes scheduled at each bar.

The tours begin at the Old Bell at 6.30pm on Friday and Saturday from April 15. Each tour can only take eight people so booking is essential.

In this article, which is part of a series on the 15 stories in the Harrogate district that shaped 2021, we look at the ongoing covid problems.

Over the past 12 months, covid has continued to bring misery across the district.

On January 1, the district had recorded 4,653 covid cases since March 2020; now, at the end of the year, that number has risen to more than 25,500 positive cases.

What’s more, the infection rate is sky high again and businesses are ending the year in the same position as they did at the same time last year — wondering if they can survive.

The district started the year under tier three restrictions, meaning people could only meet in groups of six outdoors and pubs and restaurants could only operate as takeaways.

It had previously been in tier 2, which allowed hospitality venues to open as long as they served substantial meals.

The change came in on December 30 and ruined hospitality venues’ hopes of bumper new year takings to offset some of the previous months’ covid losses.

Illegal party

However, the guidelines weren’t followed by everyone. The Stray Ferret revealed in January that pub and hotel manager Simon Cotton held an illegal New Year’s Eve party with 10 guests at the Yorkshire Hotel.

Mr Cotton (pictured above) was alleged to have asked staff to work at the event despite it being against covid rules.

He denied the allegations but the following week North Yorkshire Police issued a £1,000 fixed penalty notice for a breach of coronavirus regulations at a hotel in Harrogate on New Year’s Eve.

Third national lockdown

A short while after, on January 6, the country entered its third lockdown. This was extremely tough for local people and business owners who were once again thrust into home-working, online orders and furlough pay-outs.

The roadmap out of lockdown was announced on March 8 and, from there, schools and businesses began to reopen.

In the same month, the district hit 100 covid deaths at Harrogate and District Hospital. The Stray Ferret wrote a series of article remembering some of the 100 that died.

Events, such as Northern Alborough Festival, returned, cinemas welcomed back customers and the beauty and hair industry reopened with queues of eager people needing a haircut.

Covid precautions in Kate Borgen’s Ikonik hairdresser on King’s Road

A brief spell of normality

Then came summer and a little normality resumed. People went on holiday, visited the theatre and large concerts returned. Face masks were no longer compulsory.

But for the second year running, school exams were cancelled and results based on teacher gradings. Once again, the district saw high percentages for A* to C grades.

By the end of summer, the vaccination scheme was well underway with many over-18s having had two doses. Then came booster jabs.

The rollout began in September, and sites such as Knaresborough Chain Lane Community Hub, Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and Ripon Racecourse have been at the forefront of the campaign.

Now, more than 80,000 people in the district have had their covid booster.

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Nevertheless the emergence of Omicron has seen rates rocket again. Winter also saw the district reach the grim milestone of 200 covid deaths at Harrogate District Hospital, which stopped routine visits to patients two days before Christmas.

But the Harrogate pantomime has gone ahead, unlike last year, and — at the time of going to press — Harrogate’s hospitality sector was hoping to be open on New Year’s Eve.

But few are expecting bumper takings as covid’s shadow continues to loom large.

A Harrogate restaurant will be celebrating both its reopening and Yorkshire Day with a make-shift beach this Saturday.

To mark its namesake’s day on August 1, as well as the re-launch of its Scran restaurant, The Yorkshire Hotel has created a beach at the front of the building and is offering a free glass of prosecco for those ordering food.

Its sister property, the White Hart Hotel and Fat Badger pub, installed an outdoor beach earlier this month to celebrate hospitality venues being allowed to reopen. Simon Cotton, managing director of HRH Group, said:

“Since we opened two years ago, Scran has been at the heart of Harrogate’s dining and bar scene, but with our new fresh, contemporary look, we are excited to bring a new concept to our loyal and new customers.”

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Dean Sowden and Dario Silviera pictured outside the new restaurant.

The restaurant’s food will be in the hands of head chef Dean Sowden of the former Deano’s, with Harrogate’s barman of the year, Dario Silviera, managing the bar.

Simon added:

“Dean’s food has such a good local reputation that we are delighted he is heading up the kitchen of Scran, and with head barman, Dario at the cocktail helm we have the dream team!”

Screens have been placed around the bar and more space has been created between tables to allow for social distancing. It is recommended that customers pre book.