Date announced
Folk tradition · England
Whitby Goth Weekend
Whitby, North Yorkshire
Twice a year Whitby fills with goths, steampunks and Victorian finery for gigs and markets.
30 October – 1 November 2026
ROUND-UP GUIDE · 10 EVENTS
Odd Yorkshire.
Yorkshire can make a ceremony out of a horn, a race out of a bed and a village outing out of a bale of straw. Ripon's hornblower sounds nightly, while Goathland’s Plough Stots, Heptonstall’s Pace Egg play and Whitby’s Penny Hedge each need you there on one particular day.
Choose a small patch and one event first. The moors, the coast, the Wolds and West Yorkshire are separate journeys, and a county-wide list won't string together into one day out. Read the entry rules if you fancy racing, the programme if you'd rather watch and the transport details if things finish after your last handy service home.
At a glance
- Whitby Goth Weekend 30 October – 1 November 2026 · Whitby, North Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- Goathland Plough Stots Day of Dance 16 January 2027 · Goathland, North Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- Scarborough Skipping Day 9 February 2027 · Scarborough, North Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- Kiplingcotes Derby 18 March 2027 · Kiplingcotes, East Riding of Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- Heptonstall Pace Egg Play 26 March 2027 · Heptonstall, West Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- World Coal Carrying Championship 29 March 2027 · Gawthorpe, West Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- Planting the Penny Hedge 5 May 2027 · Whitby, North Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- Great Knaresborough Bed Race 12 June 2027 · Knaresborough, North Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- Ripon Hornblower: Setting the Watch Every night of the year at 9pm in Ripon Market Square (free) · Ripon, North Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
- Oxenhope Straw Race First Sunday in July, starting at noon (4 July 2027 if the pattern holds) · Oxenhope, West Yorkshire Stay nearby ↗
Date announced
Folk tradition · England
Goathland Plough Stots Day of Dance
Goathland, North Yorkshire
Longsword dancers tour a moorland village on the Saturday after Plough Monday.
16 January 2027
Traditional date
Folk tradition · England
Scarborough Skipping Day
Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Hundreds skip with long ropes on Scarborough's closed seafront road every Shrove Tuesday.
9 February 2027
Traditional date
Unusual race · England
Kiplingcotes Derby
Kiplingcotes, East Riding of Yorkshire
A four-mile horse race over Wolds tracks and verges, claimed as England's oldest, since 1519.
18 March 2027
Traditional date
Folk tradition · England
Heptonstall Pace Egg Play
Heptonstall, West Yorkshire
A comic Easter mummers' play performed several times on Good Friday in Weavers Square.
26 March 2027
Traditional date
Unusual race · England
World Coal Carrying Championship
Gawthorpe, West Yorkshire
Runners carry sacks of coal about a kilometre from the Royal Oak to the village maypole.
29 March 2027
Traditional date
Ceremony & pageantry · England
Planting the Penny Hedge
Whitby, North Yorkshire
A small hazel hedge is woven on the Esk shore in Whitby to stand three tides.
5 May 2027
Date announced
Unusual race · England
Great Knaresborough Bed Race
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
Decorated beds race through town and across the River Nidd.
12 June 2027
Usually TBC
Ceremony & pageantry · England
Ripon Hornblower: Setting the Watch
Ripon, North Yorkshire
Every night at 9pm a hornblower sounds a horn at the obelisk in Ripon's Market Square.
Every night of the year at 9pm in Ripon Market Square (free)
Usually July
Unusual race · England
Oxenhope Straw Race
Oxenhope, West Yorkshire
Teams in fancy dress carry a straw bale 2.5 miles between pubs, downing a pint at each stop.
First Sunday in July, starting at noon (4 July 2027 if the pattern holds)
“Stay nearby” links go to Booking.com, and each event guide also has train links. These are affiliate links — what that means.