Flavours of Yorkshire: Brand new free festival headlined by James Martin coming to Yorkshire

Flavours of Yorkshire is set to be held at Galtres Park, formerly the Pickering Showground, on Saturday July 4.

James Martin will be at the festival serving up live cookery demos and signing copies of his books in the Kemp’s Festival Bookshop.

On Sunday July 5, local culinary talent will take to the stage for a series of free to enter demos hosted by Gilly Robinson of The Cook’s Place.

The new festival is being organised by Mark Brayshaw of Rockin’ Horse Promotions, who ran Malton’s Food Lovers Festival for many years, following a career in large-scale event management.

Most of the events will be free.

Mark said: “I’ve seen first hand just how many people can be drawn to Ryedale by our fantastic array of local food and drink producers and I am delighted to have James Martin on board to launch this new event with three cookery demo sessions on Saturday July 4 – in what will be something of a homecoming for him, having grown up in nearby Malton.”

Admission to the festival will be free, with free car and coach parking on-site to keep the cost to visitors low.

“We know that personal budgets are stretched at the moment, so we were keen to make sure that this was an affordable day out for everyone – we’d much rather people spent their cash on the great produce on offer than admission fees or parking", Mark added.

"We’re hoping that people come with an empty belly and leave fully satisfied at the end of each day.”

Alongside an array of artisan food and drink stalls will be a cosmopolitan street food court and a family-friendly funfair and inflatables zone to keep young families entertained (with a small charge per ride).

Another new feature at Flavours of Yorkshire will be ‘Electric Avenue’, a display of new electric cars and bikes, with models from established and new-to-the-UK manufacturers on display for anyone considering the switch to electric.

“We know that there has been a spike of interest in electric vehicles due to rising fuel prices – this is the perfect place to see a wide range of models from the top local dealerships all in one place", Mark said.

Tickets to watch James Martin’s displays on Saturday July 4 range between £15 for a standing place to £40 for VIP front row seats, with demand expected to be very high.