Summer Breaks

Experience all that Yorkshire has to offer this summer...

Summer is a perfect time to explore Yorkshire!

Stunning at any time of year, Yorkshire is truly awe-inspiring in the summer. See the natural world come alive again amid the splendour of the Dales. Make the most of the summer months in a lovely coastal hideaway… or spend time exploring the area’s glories, from the rugged Moors to historic towns and villages.

We’ve put together a useful guide of things to do this summer and highlighted some of our favourites below. Events and festivals come in all shapes and sizes in Yorkshire, from agricultural shows to famous Regattas… so make sure you tick as many as you can off your list and join in the fun!

Great Yorkshire Show - 11th - 13th July

Celebrate the counties farming culture with Englands largest agricultural show.

Situation in the Great Yorkshire Showground on the outskirts of Harrogate the Great Yorkshire Show regularly attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. A huge variety of cattle, livestock and other farmyard animals are on show, plus horse riding, outdoor pursuit displays, forestry and sheep shearing. The main exhibition centre features a food festival with local delicacies to try and buy whilst the White Rose parade ring hosts a series of exciting events and displays including the cattle parade of all the best in show cows! With all this plus hundreds of stands and stalls you might need to spend all 3 days of the show just getting to see everything!

Buy Tickets to the Great Yorkshire Show

Search Cottages Nearby

Ryedale Festival - 14th - 30th July

Every year, the Ryedale Festival welcomes outstanding performers from all over the world, both established and emerging, to perform a wide-ranging and distinctive programme in the many spectacular venues of Ryedale, North Yorkshire – an area marked by its history and its natural beauty.

The market towns and villages of the region – principally Malton, Helmsley and Pickering – are of a muted loveliness, and seem not much changed for decades. Beautiful medieval churches and major stately homes abound. The surrounding countryside encompasses the North York Moors and magisterial Howardian Hills, as well as vast rolling landscapes and wooded valleys through which the River Rye flows.

No Yorkshire music festival would be complete without the inclusion of a brass band and this year’s offering is no different. The Gala Opening concert features the brass ensemble Septura taking audiences on a musical tour of the seven deadly sins through the music of Rameau, Ravel, Shostakovich, Purcell, Prokofiev, Lassus and Rachmaninov.

Search Cottages Nearby

Leyburns 1940's Weekend - 22nd and 23rd July

This popular event is now in its 9^th year. The Market Place in the centre of town becomes an arena for all things 1940s - with music, singing, dancing, stalls and all manner of vehicles: including military vehicles, farm machinery, buses, vintage cars, steam traction engines...

Turn back the clock and enjoy this nostalgic event.

Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival -12th - 20th August

Every year this picturesque village in the heart of Wharfedale is turned over to the imaginative and intriguing Scarecrow trail. A perfect adventure for all the family as you follow the theme of the trail and solve riddles to find the mystery word – with prizes to be won every day! Many other scarecrows can be also found, often in some of the more unusual and unexpected nooks and crannies as you explore all parts of the idyllic Yorkshire village. Kettlewell also boasts 2 fine country pubs, perfect for some refreshment after a hard days exploring!

Whitby Regatta - 18th -21st August

The Whitby Regatta is a great weekend, one not to be missed. One hundred and seventy six years of aquatic competition and entertainment all in one place. The Whitby Regatta is probably the oldest sea Regatta on the northeast coast and has drawn large crowds into Whitby over the years. The weekend hosts a variety of activities such as embracing yacht racing, rowing races and various free forms of entertainment. The finale of the weekend is sure to impress, finishing with a prize presentation and spectacular firework display.

Reeth Show - 28th August

Reeth Show is a traditional Yorkshire Dales agricultural show held every year for one day at the end of August in the picturesque surroundings of Swaledale. It boasts a great selection of trade and entertainment stands for all the family, from candyfloss and bouncy castles to tractors and a huge variety of animals.