Christmas market event back on in Yorkshire town

Malton Christmas Festival was cancelled due to rising costs, but a market will take place in December (stock image)

A Christmas market will take place in a North Yorkshire town in December, despite the scrapping of an annual festive event.

The Malton Christmas Festival was cancelled along with several other events in the town in October due to "rising operating costs".

The Malton Estate, which had organised markets in Malton through its promotional company Visit Malton, said the cancelled events would be replaced by "sustained, year-round promotion of the town", but the move received criticism from traders.

Simon Boak, of Pickering-based company The Events Office, has planned the return of a Christmas market on 6 and 7 December.

"Some of the traders approached me and said there wasn't going to be a market on this year and would I be able to organise something," he said.

"I got together with the Malton Estate and they've given us permission to use all the town centre."

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

Speaking in October, a Malton Estate 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."

According to Mr Boak, there will be an artisan market, a traditional street market and a farmer's market at the seasonal event.

There will also be brass bands, Christmas choirs, live music and a fair.

"We're getting lots of bookings coming in and it's looking good, I think it will be a big success," Mr Boak added.

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