Festivals in 'Yorkshire's food capital' cancelled

The King and Queen visited Florian Poirot's patisserie during a trip to meet food producers in Malton in 2023

Traders in Malton have said the cancellation of key food festivals in the town has left them with little time to prepare a "Plan B".

The Malton Christmas Festival, Monthly Food Market, Malton 10k and Malton Food Lovers Festival would no longer take place due to rising operating costs, the Fitzwilliam Estate said.

The estate, which had organised the events through its promotional company Visit Malton, said the festivals would be replaced by "sustained, year-round promotion of the town".

Florian Poirot, who owns a pastry shop in the town, said events like the two-day Christmas market "basically pay for a month like January where we hardly take a penny".

Mr Poirot said: "We now have a hole which needs to be fulfilled and I don't know yet how we are going to fulfil it.

"I moved to Malton and I took this shop because there was all of those events."

He said he "couldn't believe" the announcement, criticising the communication from organisers.

"Where I'm really, really annoyed - and most traders are - is that we haven't been asked or told anything.

"Those events may have been running at a loss and that's not OK for them, I understand this.

"However, at no point did they ask the traders in Malton, and we have a great community of artisan traders who could quite possibly help."

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Mr Poirot said he did not know whether this Saturday's monthly market would happen.

"I don't know whether I need to bake so many macarons for this weekend or not because I don't know if the market goes ahead or not."

He added that there was "not really time to have a Plan B", as the announcement came so close to the planned Christmas market.

"The bills are going to remain the same, the staff costs are going to remain the same, so obviously we need to find this money somewhere else and I don't know where yet."

Florian Poirot said he had set up shop in Malton partly because of its various festivals

Paul Potts, owner of family-run butcher and fish merchant Food 2 Remember, said he was "upset" with the cancellations.

He said the events "bring different faces and those different faces become regular customers".

"When Malton's buzzing, it's busy, it's lovely and you get a lot more footfall coming in," he added.

"We're in a little courtyard, tucked away in a corner of Malton, it's nice for people to find us really."

'Thriving rural community'

Chris Waplington, operations manager at Brass Castle Brewery, added: "Malton is the food capital of Yorkshire, that's how we've branded ourselves.

"So many food businesses have flocked here for that."

"We definitely see a marked uptick in what we turn over when events like this go on."

He said many business owners were "just confused".

The Fitzwilliam Estate, which owns a large amount of property in Malton, said the change marked the "start of a new chapter for the town's tourism and marketing efforts".

A spokesperson said: "The decision follows careful consideration of the long-term impact of the town's events programme which, as a result of rising operating costs over the last few years, have become increasingly challenging to sustain."

They said that work over the last 15 years had made Malton a "go-to destination for quality artisan producers, independent makers and businesses".

A statement continued: "Whilst the events bring welcome footfall and promotion for the town, this is often felt at peaks during the year, as opposed to all-year-round.

"We are dedicated to making Malton a go-to destination and thriving rural community where businesses can flourish year-round."

Asked about the consultation process ahead of the decision, the estate said it had made a "real effort" to contact all traders.

It added: "We're committed to working closely with our business community and would encourage any traders with questions or concerns to get in touch with us directly."

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