Dales Festival set to break £60,000 mark for local causes

Organisers of the Wharfedale Beer and Music Festival, hope to top the £60,000 barrier in monies raised for worthy causes ahead of this year’s sixth annual event.

The event will be held at Grassington Town Hall on the 11th and 12th of November, after an enforced two-year COVID-19 absence.

As the Wharfedale Charitable Trust gears up for the festival, where Skipton and Ilkley-based estate agents Dale Eddison will again be the main sponsor, Cracoe-based Trustee Dave Eggleton is calling on the public to rally round and support the Autumn extravaganza: “It is a fantastic event for the people of Upper Wharfedale and this year we are putting on special buses from Buckden, Ilkley, Skipton and Pateley Bridge, which will hopefully draw more people in from the wider community.

Organisers say in our first five years, through the generosity of our wonderful sponsors and the 5000 people that have attended the event so far, we have raised well over £60,000 for good causes in this part of the Yorkshire Dales. It would be a wonderful achievement if, together, we could break the £60,000 barrier and we would urge people who have been before to tell their friends and family what a great festival it is and come and sample a few ales in the dales whilst enjoying the bands we have on at each session”.

In addition to a special sponsors session to be held on the Friday afternoon, there will be public sessions on the Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday night with all tickets priced at £15 to include three food and drink tokens on the evening sessions and five on Saturday afternoon. Festival goers will be able to sample over 50 real ales and craft beers, ciders and lagers, as well as enjoying a selection of real ciders, lagers, wines, prosecco and gins. Local firm,

Kendall’s Farm Butchers from Pateley Bridge will be showcasing their award winning pork pies, pasties and sausage rolls. In addition to support sets from local bands, music lovers will be entertained by “One Last Nail” on Friday night, Ilkley based Dr Bob and the Bluesmakers take to the stage on Saturday afternoon, before the Jailhouse Blues Brothers headline on Saturday night.

Once again all proceeds will go towards worthy causes in Upper Wharfedale with the Trust looking to continue their support for community transport links between local villages and the neighbouring towns of Ilkley and Skipton; junior sports development at the Upper Wharfedale Cricket Club, Wharfedale Rugby Club and Grassington Juniors Football Club, Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue, Yorkshire Air Ambulance and local schools and youth groups.

Further information can be found on the festival website, wharfedalebeerfestival.com where entry tickets and bus tickets from Buckden, Ilkley, Pateley Bridge and Skipton can now be purchased.