Great Knaresborough Bed Race
Decorated beds on wheels race through the North Yorkshire market town on the second Saturday in June, crossing the River Nidd in 2026's Swinging Sixties edition, in one of England's most eccentric and joyful annual spectacles.
A cliff-top castle, a spectacular Victorian viaduct framed in the gorge below, a Wednesday street market, three CAMRA-listed pubs and a working high street of independent shops make Knaresborough one of the most complete and rewarding market towns in the north of England.
Cottages, B&Bs and hotels near Knaresborough, North Yorkshire.
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"For nine days every August this Wharfedale village fills its gardens, walls and doorways with handmade scarecrows, and half the fun is the treasure hunt of finding them all."
Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Founded in 1871 and held in the Milburn Arms Field in the tranquil valley village of Rosedale Abbey, this long-running show features foxhound and terrier shows, gundog displays, terrier races, hound trails, and a gymkhana."
Rosedale and District Show
"Founded in 1871, this intimate show at Milburn Arms Field in the heart of Rosedale Abbey showcases heavy horses, cattle, goats, vintage tractors and local produce against the backdrop of a former ironstone mining valley."
Rosedale Show
"One of England's most singular calendar customs, this centuries-old West Witton rite sees a chanting crowd carry a glowing-eyed effigy of 'Bartle' through the village at nightfall before stabbing and burning him on the hillside above Wensleydale."
Burning Bartle
"Held in the grounds of Eshton Hall near Skipton, this traditional Dales show blends livestock and horticulture classes with show jumping, sheepdog trials and fell running."
Gargrave Agricultural and Horticultural Show
"Held in the grounds of Eshton Hall in a Dales village near Skipton, the Gargrave Show has cattle, sheep, showjumping and a fell race, a cornerstone of local tradition since the Victorian era."
Gargrave Show
"Every first September weekend, the hilltop village of Norland transforms via a self-guided trail through narrow lanes and gardens, with villagers creating hundreds of characters on this year's Sports, Leisure and Games theme, all raising money for local causes."
Norland Scarecrow Festival
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Competitors lob black puddings underarm at a stack of Yorkshire puddings on a plinth, settling an old rivalry."
World Black Pudding Throwing Championships
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Through October and into November, the medieval Rufford Old Hall fills its grounds with scarecrows on a pop stars and music legends theme, making it one of the grandest and longest-running Halloween-season scarecrow trails in England."
Rufford Old Hall Scarecrow Festival
✦ Weird and Wonderful"Competitors race uphill carrying a hundredweight sack of coal to the village maypole every Easter Monday."
World Coal Carrying Championships
✦ Weird and Wonderful"On the last Sunday of June, the Yorkshire Dales village of Upperthong crowns a world champion welly boot thrower: the only official championship for this deeply Yorkshire sport, invented here with a maximum run-up of exactly 42 paces as specified by Douglas Adams."
World Welly Wanging Championship
✦ Weird and Wonderful"A three-day seaside spectacle in the tiny village of Seaview complete with a greasy pole over the sea, tug of war, swimming races, diving and a fireworks display over the Solent."
Seaview Village Regatta
✦ Weird and Wonderful