Showers didn’t take the sparkle off Ripon’s Christmas lights switch on, with Santa, reindeer, free fairground rides for children and tribute acts all adding to  yesterday afternoon’s family entertainment organised by Ripon City Council.

With rain relenting, a gathering  of residents and visitors, mostly made up of family groups, poured onto Market Square and by the time the lights were switched on at 5pm, more than 2,000 people were present to welcome in the 2023 festive season.

Illuminating the city centre

The Christmas tree and lit up sleigh decoration on Market Place South

The Merry Christmas decoration on the entry to Kirkgate

Kirkgate lights on the approach to the cathedral

The display on Westgate

Fishergate

North Street

Entertainment for children

The three children’s fairground rides were in full swing all afternoon and into the evening

Santa took Christmas present orders from the children, while his reindeer took a rest

Musical entertainment

These children were full of early Christmas joy as they danced to girl band songs performed by the tribute act Xelle

The tribute act Boyz Beyond had the crowd rocking with classic songs from chart-topping boy bands

Hundreds of people gathered on Ripon Market Square yesterday for the last large-scale public event of the summer organised by the city council.

Families with children from tots to teenagers came early in the  afternoon to ride the Ferris wheel and roundabout, both of which proved a constant draw until dusk, when tribute acts took centre stage in front of the town hall.

The queue for the Ferris wheel stretched the length of Market Square

Evening entertainment was provided by tribute acts playing the hits of Neil Diamond, Elton John and Robbie Williams, while the Big Boyband Reunion, played a selection of the chart-topping songs made famous by leading boy bands.

The crowd on Market Square steadily grew throughout the evening.

One of the concert highlights came when the Neil Diamond lookalike and soundalike sang Sweet Caroline, the adopted anthem of the England women’s football team.

Sweet Caroline struck a chord with the Ripon crowd

The Robbie Williams tribute act

Elton John’s Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me rang out before sunset arrived and at 9pm Allison Clark, a member of the Ripon hornblower team (pictured below) provided a reminder of the city’s ancient roots, by performing the nightly setting of the watch ceremony, which has reputedly been carried out  without break for more than eleven hundred years.

You can watch a live video from last night on our Facebook page.

More free Bank Holiday entertainment

The free family-focused entertainment continues in Ripon on Monday, with a street party in Kirkgate from 11am until 4pm and a Spanish-themed fiesta on Minster Gardens from 5pm until 9.30pm.

Organised by independent businesses in the city as part of the Totally Locally initiative developed with Ripon BID, the Bank Holiday event will see the closure of Kirkgate from 9am.

Ripon is preparing for another bank holiday weekend of free family-focused entertainment, featuring live music, fairground rides and a Spanish-flavoured fiesta.

Tomorrow (Saturday) a ferris wheel and Mini Miami ride will be among the attractions on Market Square from 12 noon until 8pm, as part of the last public event of the summer organised by Ripon City Council and financed through the parish precept.

From 7pm until 11pm music will take centre stage, with tribute acts performing the hits of Neil Diamond, Elton John and Robbie Williams, before the Big Boyband Reunion provides a rousing end to the entertainment.

Popular tunes and ancient tradition will come together at 8.55pm when a member of the Ripon hornblower team sets the city watch with blasts of their horn at the four corners of the obelisk.

The Easter street party in Kirkgate brought hundreds of visitors to the city

Bank Holiday Monday street party

As a follow-up to the highly-successful Easter Bank Holiday Monday street party held in Kirkgate, Ripon’s independent businesses have joined forces once more to arrange an event designed to draw visitors into the city and entertain local residents.

Kirkgate will close to traffic from 9am, for a day of entertainment running from 11am until 4pm and including buskers and on-street food and drink offers.

Between 5pm and 9.30pm, Minster Gardens will be transformed into a musical fiesta venue, with decorative lighting for a paella picnic among the trees.

The entertainment will be provided by Knaresborough Vista Social Club, Bailey Brown and virtuoso Ukrainian violinist Nadia.

There will be a horsebox bar and a pop-up paella restaurant supplied by Manchega Tapas Restauarant, whose owner, Richard Hughes, said:

“Ripon should be the destination for anyone visiting the north of England! It has everything to offer.”

He added:

“This whole event is an example of the local business community promoting a can-do attitude.  It has been funded almost entirely by donations from local businesses and also by sponsorship from Voneus Broadband, along with ongoing administrative support from the Ripon BID, as part of the excellent Totally Locally initiative.”

Flash:Queen and a fireworks display fit for a king provided a sparkling end to two days of coronation celebrations on Ripon Market Square last night.

The accomplished tribute act entertained a crowd of more than 1,500, with a selection of favourite hits from the songbook of Mercury, May and Taylor.

The 90-minute top of the bill performance, featuring Radio Ga Ga, We are the Champions, Under Pressure and Don’t Stop Me Now, among others, engaged the audience and saw many join in the Queen classics that have become rock anthems.

The band was still performing on stage when  Ripon Town Hall clock clicked onto 10.50pm, and a fireworks display lit up the sky above buildings in Market Square East, providing a double crescendo that brought the night of entertainment to an end.

Celebrations to mark the coronation of their Majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla, were organised by Ripon City Council and funded from the parish precept,

They included more than 12 hours of musical entertainment provided by tribute acts and Tamsin (pictured above) who performed under her own name,

In addition to the coronation concerts held over two days ,free fairground rides were  provided yesterday and proved popular with children of all ages.

Read more:

• Coronation celebrations underway in Harrogate district
• How Ripon Cathedral is marking the coronation

When hornblower Allison Clark (pictured below) set the watch on Market Square at 9pm, only a handful of people were present, but by the stroke of midnight Ripon’s New Year’s Eve revellers were singing and dancing in the rain.

Yesterday’s heavy showers that threatened to turn the evening of celebration into a damp squib, relented by 11pm and the crowds poured in to enjoy the free music that heralded in 2023.

Mayor Councillor Sid Hawke, who joined with his wife and Mayoress Linda, Ripon city councillors and other civic dignitaries in a torchlit procession from the cathedral to Market Square, led the countdown to midnight, flanked by the Bishop of Leeds The Rt. Revd Nick Baines and the Dean of Ripon The Very Revd John Dobson.

The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Sid Hawke, pictured with The Bishop of Leeds The Rt Revd Nick Baines and The Dean of Ripon The Very Revd John Dobson

The Bishop and Dean John,  were among the clergy who had taken part in the Watchnight Service at the cathedral that preceded the procession to Market Square, where a blessing was given.

Throughout the evening the tribute acts Exelle, Beyond Faith and Parklife, braved the elements to perform a broad repertoire of songs, ranging from the chart-topping numbers of girl bands to  George Michael classics and the Britpop tunes of the 1990s.

The Weather Girls’ 1979 hit It’s Raining Men, was among the songs performed by Exelle (pictured above) while George Michael lookalike and soundalike Beyond Faith (pictured below) also wowed the crowd.

Last night’s concert organised by Ripon City Council, saw the curtain come down on an epic year that saw the city’s ancient square stage historic events including celebrations of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June to the mourning of her death in September and the subsequent proclamation of Charles III as King.

---

Read more:

• Ripon charity’s vital fundraiser
• How Ripon mourned The Queen’s death

---

 

Ripon will welcome in 2023 in traditional style on Saturday evening, with residents and visitors invited to the city’s New Year’s Eve gathering on Market Square.

The celebrations begin at 9pm when a member of the hornblower team will signal the setting of the watch with blasts of their horn at the four corners of the obelisk.

The ceremonial event, dating back to 886 AD – the year in which when Alfred the Great became the first Anglo-Saxon King of England – will provide the prelude to a night of free entertainment.

The watch will be set by a member of the Ripon hornblower team prior to the start of the musical entertainment

Following the hornblower, three tribute acts will take centre stage for the final concert of the year organised by Ripon City Council.

The acts are Beyond Faith, performing the songs of George Michael and Wham, Xelle with the favourite numbers from the best-known girl bands and Parklife, singing Britpop hits of the 1990s.

Shortly before midnight a torchlit procession of civic dignitaries led by the Mayor and Mayoress of Ripon Councillor Sid Hawke and his wife Linda, will make its way from Ripon Cathedral to Market Square, in time for the countdown that heralds in the New Year.

The procession will follow the Watchnight service at the cathedral which begins at 11.15.

Read more:

• Hundreds take part in Ripon pilgrimage
• A message of hope from the Bishop of Ripon

Ripon began its 1,350th anniversary celebrations in spectacular style yesterday, with a son et lumiere in the cathedral among the highlights.

Throughout the day, the work of Wilfrid, who founded the church in AD 672, was celebrated in words, artworks and music.

From the the focus on Ripon’s ancient roots, the night-time spotlight switched to Market Square, where four tribute acts performed in a free concert arranged by the city council. Rain that arrived in early evening, deterred some people from attending.

A Beyonce tribute, was one of four acts to perform on Market Square, with Craig David, Boy George and Freddie Mercury tributes also taking to the stage

Events and activities at the cathedral earlier in the day, included the first glimpse, for many visitors, of Chrissie Freeth’s series of 13 tapestries in her Beyond Words exhibition.

The  intricate woven works, depicting pre-Renaissance scenes, have previously been on display at the Royal Academy, Salts Mill and in Sweden, Latvia and Finland.

The exhibition will remain in Ripon until May 25.

The medieval world in woven form, can be seen in Chrissie Freeth tapestries

Alongside a guided tour, featuring a talk on the building’s hidden history, there was an opportunity to meet director of music, Dr Ronny Krippner, to learn about the organ that is central to the cathedral’s Sung Eucharist and other services.

After playing his special arrangement of the hymn Thine Be the Glory, he told the audience:

“The organ is an orchestra in itself, able to produce the sounds of many different instruments.

“It adds to the cathedral’s splendour, air of mystery and wonderment, with its booming sound able to be increased by pulling out the stops.”

Music master and apprentice – Dr Krippner, gave children, including five-year-old Rafael, a lesson in how to play the organ

For Rafael, a pupil at Cathedral School, it was a day to remember, as Dr Krippner, instructed him on how to hold a note.

The miracles of St Wilfrid

By the evening, the son et lumiere  created to provide a visual representation of the seven miraculous events in St Wilfrid’s life, flooded the cathedral with coloured light.

Among those miracles,  It is said that he was born in a house that was on fire, but survived without being injured.

It is also said that on the first anniversary of Wilfrid’s death, the moon and stars shone so bright that a lunar rainbow appeared over Ripon.

Hornblower Patricio Maglio, setting the watch on Market Square

The hornblower tradition

While the cathedral, is a dominant reminder of the city’s patron saint, another famous person, Alfred the Great, who has shaped Ripon’s rich history, is celebrated nightly on Market Square.

Last night it was the turn of Patricio Maglio,  from the team of four hornblowers, who delivered the blasts to the past, dating back to AD 886, when King Alfred awarded a ceremonial horn, in recognition of the way in which Ripon repelled a Viking incursion.

The unbroken tradition of setting the city’s watch was complete by the time the clock on the nearby cathedral clock struck nine.

Read more:

• Ripon man of music will be remembered at concert for Macmillan
• Why did the Archbishop of York visit St Andrew’s in Kirkby Malzeard?

Ripon’s New Year’s eve concert to go ahead without the fireworks

Ripon’s New Year’s Eve free concert and fireworks display on Market Square is set to go ahead.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid’s announcement this week that no additional covid restrictions will be put in place in England before the New Year effectively gave Friday’s event the green light.

However, with the Omicron variant bringing a surge in the number of recorded covid cases in the Harrogate district, Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams is urging caution for the large public event.

He said:

“We ask anyone planning to attend to take a lateral flow test and only venture onto Market Square if it gives a negative result.

“We already had the licence for the event from Harrogate Borough Council and had been keeping a close eye on announcements from the government regarding covid measures.

“Now that we have the go-ahead, we hope that people will come and enjoy the night of free entertainment and ensure their own safety and that of others by taking sensible precautions.”

Fireworks display

Safety concerns about holding a fireworks display in Market Square to herald in 2022 have also been resolved. An alternative area of land to the rear of Ripon Town Hall will be used to discharge the display.

Entertainment will begin with the Ripon Hornblower ceremony at the obelisk at 9pm and will be followed by performances from an Oasis tribute act and the Big Boyband Reunion.

The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, will address the audience at 11.55pm and, following a blessing by the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt. Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the fireworks display will start as the town hall clock strikes 12.

New Year’s Eve celebrations have been held on Ripon Market Square since 1986 but covid caused the cancellation of the 2020 event.