Hessle Feast to go ahead after delay

The event takes place on Sunday

An East Yorkshire town will this weekend host a community event that was first held more than 200 years ago.

The annual Hessle Feast, traditionally held from 12:00 to 17:00 BST on the second Sunday of July, will take place this year on the last Sunday of August after a number of hurdles forced the event to be delayed.

Food, drink and craft stalls will take over Hessle Square, which will also host live entertainment from local musicians.

Organisers said it would have been "the easy option" to permanently cancel this year's event but people came together because it is so important to the town.

The Hessle Feast originated in the early 19th Century. By 1836, it was a major event but attracted anti-social behaviour, eventually leading to a long absence.

It was revived in the early 2000s and has been run by a small team of volunteers over the last 10 years.

The feast hit a snag earlier in the year when the organisers posted online that they may be forced to cancel the event due to a lack of volunteers.

However, after a "crisis meeting" on 23 April they said there had been a "great turnout" of people offering their time to help.

Sean Cahill is one volunteer who has been helping make the feast happen

Sean Cahill is one local who stepped up, having never been involved in the feast before. He has been preparing what will happen on the main stage this year.

He said local people get really excited about the event but "just expect it to happen" and said he had never previously thought about what goes on behind the scenes.

He added that, after the request for help, "it's been really nice to see lots of people supporting" and ensuring the event was pulled off.

The Square in Hessle will be closed to traffic on 31 August

Delays in finding new people to help run the event meant road closure permissions for the original date in July were not sorted in time.

Mr Cahill said the council had been "brilliant" in working with volunteers to making sure they got the correct permissions in time after the new date was confirmed earlier this month.

All funds raised from the event this year will go to supporting future feasts and to help fund a new community minibus.

Donna Mansell says it is always a great event

Donna Mansell runs a children's clothing shop on Prestongate and will be having a stall outside her shop for the feast.

She said: "We'll probably have a school uniform rack because the schools go back on Tuesday."

She confirmed the town was delighted the event has been able to go ahead: "Hessle Feast is such a big thing for Hessle - we love it."

Visitors are encouraged to plan travel ahead as major roadworks are taking place on the day of the festival.

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