Harrogate and beyond: Fill your 2023 diary with events for all seasons
Are you finding your diary somewhat lacking in social engagements right now? Fear not, for as the calendar turns to a new page and a new year, the Harrogate area has plenty of exciting events on the horizon for you to look forward to in 2023!
From large-scale events, such as the Great Yorkshire Show, to bespoke events based on niche hobbies and interests, like Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writers’ Festival, the annual events calendar celebrates local culture, fascinating history and helps to define what makes this part of North Yorkshire so unique.
We’ve compiled a selection of the most-loved events so you can start planning ahead and fill your 2023 visit with unforgettable experiences.
Harrogate Spring Flower Show
The first of the Harrogate Flower Shows is a horticultural celebration that draws visitors from near and afar with a fondness for all things floral. Together with September’s Autumn Show, it’s a perennial, plant-lover’s favourite that offers a window to the world, the beautiful and varied open spaces of the Harrogate area - from its exquisite formal gardens to its picturesque public parkland.
Harrogate Spring Flower Show
Great Knaresborough Bed Race
In June, the Great Knaresborough Bed Race connects the local community with visitors keen to behold a brilliant and unusual spectacle. Launched in 1966, the Bed Race follows a challenging route through hilly terrain, over leafy parkland, through the Nidd Gorge, across cobbled streets and culminates in a swim through the bracing waters of the River Nidd – with fancy dress included, and all to raise money for local good causes.
Great Knaresborough Bed Race
Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival
Each July, Harrogate’s Old Swan Hotel plays host to Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Writers’ Festival. During the festival, the award is presented for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year and attendees enjoy a packed programme of special guests, panel discussions and entertainment, celebrating crime fiction and the crime writing industry.
Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival
Great Yorkshire Show
Also in July, you can join the thousands of people – and animals – who flock to the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate for the Great Yorkshire Show! This well-established event has grown into so much more than an agricultural show - with entertainment, shopping, live music - and one of the most prestigious show-jumping classes in the country. It’s not uncommon for celebrities to drop by, and just occasionally members of the Royal Family!
Nidderdale Show
The Nidderdale Show takes place towards the end of the agricultural show season and in 2023 will be held on 24 September. From sheepdog trials to livestock classes, cookery demonstrations to a funfair, dog show, exhibition cricket match, delicious food and drink, local produce and crafts - it’s a traditional Dales show that is both classic and timeless.
Nidderdale Agricultural Show
Christmas 2023
Come the season of goodwill, the Harrogate area welcomes everyone for a yuletide extravaganza of Christmas markets, carol concerts, family-friendly fun and festivities. Our Advent calendar is full of festive cheer, from Harrogate Christmas Fayre and festive artisan markets across our towns to family-friendly attractions and experiences.
Details of Christmas 2023 will be confirmed in the summer but for now, our 2022 celebrations continue into the new year!
So start marking those dates into your new 2023 calendar now and find more great events taking place across the Harrogate part of North Yorkshire in our events section!
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