What’s on West Yorkshire: Pontefract Liquorice Festival with family fun for all July 14 2024
This year’s Pontefract Liquorice Festival is going to be even more of a sweet treat than ever
The much beloved Pontefract Liquorice Festival is back for 2024, only this time with local sweets manufacturer HARIBO taking over as head sponsor.
Expect confectionary capers galore at this fantastic festival which this year includes a parade through the town centre, lead by HARIBO’s iconic Goldbear, and featuring a cast of vibrant costumes, inspired by some HARIBO favourites, as well as other liquorice classics.
Pontefract Liquorice Festival is a firm family favourite with something for everyone, including delicious street food and the chance to explore the speciality market – with many stalls offering liquorice themed products. It takes place this year on Saturday July 14.
Enjoy the community acts and top local talent on the main stage, and watch out for the walkabout entertainment – can you spot Lucy Liquorice in her eye-catching costume?
Children will love the all-new kids’ zone on Cornmarket featuring exciting workshops, face painting, crafts and much more.
The HARIBO-themed parade will take place at 11.30am and 2.30pm in Cornmarket and there will be another performance at 1.30pm at Pontefract Castle.
Our Year
The Pontefract Liquorice Festival is part of Wakefield’s One Year – a year-long project bringing events and activities to every resident.
That means 366 days of activities to delight those that live here and encourage more people to visit. Its aim is both to put Wakefield on the map as well as give residents chance to explore all the amazing things happening on their own doorstop.
One Year has communities at its heart and 2024 is Our Year to try something new – so if you’ve never been to the Pontefract Liquorice Festival before, now is the perfect time to try it for yourself!
Historic links
Pontefract’s links with liquorice go back centuries. The area has the right soil and climate for growing this sweet, medicinal plant with its unique taste. It’s believed monks at Pontefract Priory were the first to plant it in the 16th century and there were certainly people farming liquorice in the 1700s.
But it was a young man from the town who made the sweet famous beyond West Yorkshire – and in particular the renowned Pontefract cake. George Dunhill’s family farmed liquorice near old Pontefract Castle. The young boy, who became a chemist, took some of the medicinal liquorice and added a bit of sugar to make it a sweet treat.
Liquorice was used in medicine to ease digestive problems, sore throats and coughs. Pontefract cakes are flat round soft liquorice sweets, usually with a stamp on them so they look like a coin.
At one time there were 13 factories making Pontefract cakes! Now there are just a few, including HARIBO, sponsors of this year’s event.
Find out more
For more information check the website here.