Food festival set to return under new ownership

The Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival will return next year.

A popular food and drink festival is set to return under new ownership after organisers went into liquidation.

This year's Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival in Skipton was cancelled after Events By B3 Ltd announced it had ceased trading.

Company Cocker Hoop Creative has now stepped forward to "revive" the event and has acquired the festival's assets and intellectual property.

The firm, which organises Lichfield Food Festival in Staffordshire, said it would honour payments made by traders who had been due to attend for next year.

Ticket holders affected by this year's cancellation would also be offered a discount for the 2025 event at Funkirk Farm, they said.

Anyone who bought tickets for the 2024 event is advised to check with their credit or debit card providers to request a chargeback on their purchase.

Founded in 2015, the three-day festival previously featured street food and pop-up restaurants as well as masterclasses with celebrity chefs such as James Martin and Hairy Bikers Si King and the late Dave Myers.

The three-day event attracted about 30,000 visitors and 200 exhibitors.

Cocker Hoop Creative has already outlined plans for next year's event which would include a re-branded website as well as "the best of local and regional food, drink and culinary talent".

The firm also hopes to bring down ticket prices and camping fees in the future.

Jon Arrowsmith, managing director of Cocker Hoop Creative, said: “There are many similarities between the Yorkshire Dales Food & Drink Festival and the Lichfield Food Festival, and we will bring our experience, commitment to excellence and determination to make this event a success to benefit residents, visitors and local businesses."

He said traders were the "lifeblood" of a food festival and said they were "committed to supporting those traders that have unfortunately suffered financially as a result of the liquidation of Events By B3 Ltd".

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