The much-loved Spiegeltent is back with a bang and a sizzling summer programme of jazz, rock, burlesque, dance and much more. The Spiegeltent Festival 2026 – in association with Ogden of Harrogate, one of the country’s best known family jewellers – runs from 25 June to 4 July in Crescent Gardens, featuring an exciting line-up curated by award-winning saxophonist and composer Camilla George.

The 2026 winners of the Northern Aldborough Festival New Voices Singing Competition have been crowned as countertenor Tom Lilburn and his accompanist Jack Redman. Now in its fourth year, the nationwide search spanning concert halls and conservatoires has become a showcase of the hottest rising stars, with a £7,000 prize fund.

Festival favourites Oddsocks are back in town this summer bringing their irresistible mixture of mayhem and family fun with them. The travelling troubadours return to the sumptuous grounds of RHS Harlow Carr on 30 June and 1 July, with their new take on Shakespeare’s classic tale Romeo & Juliet. A family feud divides the community. Violence stalks the streets.

She's the cabaret siren, bringing a blaze of Broadway glamour, old Hollywood shimmer and flame-haired icons to Ripon – and she cannot, she insists, do a show without funny bones. There is a particular kind of performer who walks into a room and instantly rearranges its atmosphere. Amber Topaz is one of those.

US-born baritone Davóne Tines, renowned for his work in opera and gospel, has been described as an “electrifying” performer (The Guardian). The Grammy-nominated singer, named Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year in 2022, is appearing at the Wesley Centre, in Harrogate, on 12 June.

Harrogate International Festivals is celebrating its 60th anniversary in style by bringing some of the biggest names and brightest emerging stars in classical music to Harrogate this summer – from the boundary-pushing stars such as Abel Selaocoe and Aurora Orchestra to legendary cellist Julian Lloyd Webber and the renowned BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

Harrogate International Festivals has announced the shortlist for the McDermid Debut Award for new UK and Irish writers. The winner will be revealed on the opening night of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, Thursday 23 July.

The Trentham Estate are delighted with the return and complete line-up to their 4-day event TRENTHAM LIVE 2026 taking place in the stunning surroundings at Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire from Thursday 20th August through to Sunday 23rd August. Over four days at the historic gardens and lakeside setting, the event will showcase a strong live music line-up.

Visitors to this year’s Swaledale Festival can expect to experience the Yorkshire Dales in a whole new way, thanks to support from the National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund. From woodland performances to music shaped by the landscape itself, the Fund is helping the festival connect people more deeply with the Dales’ natural environment.

Harrogate International Festivals today announced the 18 titles longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2026, the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime fiction award, now in its twenty second year.

Almost ten years since her last appearance in Aldborough, the famed clarinettist Emma Johnson MBE is making a much-anticipated return with her star-studded trio. Described by The Times as ‘Britain's favourite clarinettist’, Emma Johnson is one of the few clarinet players to have made a career as a soloist.

As Lakefest prepares to return to the stunning grounds of Eastnor Castle from 5–9 August, the line-up promises a vibrant mix of nostalgia, dancefloor energy and eclectic talent. Alongside acts including The Charlatans, Bananarama, Soul II Soul, Madness and The Lightning Seeds, DJ and producer Woody Cook is set to bring his infectious, free-flowing energy to the festival crowd.

Five years in, Ripon Theatre Festival has grown from promising newcomer to cultural cornerstone — and this year it's bigger, bolder, and more inclusive than ever. There are festivals that happen to a city, and there are festivals that happen with one.

Children in six Harrogate and Knaresborough schools are getting the opportunity to hone their storytelling skills thanks to a series of workshops led by crime fiction writer Rachael Blok.

Rebecca Philipson, author of ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ and Creative Thursday attendee: “I took part in Creative Thursday in 2023 and 2024. I was still drafting ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ and the workshops were incredibly helpful.

Corinne Bailey Rae has joined the line-up of Likkle Lit Fest – a new festival of Black literature for children and young adult readers in her hometown, Leeds. The Grammy Award-winning musician is appearing at the festival on Saturday, February 14, at Leeds Central Library, when she will read from her debut picture book, Put Your Records On (published by Fox and Ink Books on March 5).

Described by BBC Music Magazine as a “trumpeter extraordinaire, Matilda Lloyd gives the trumpet a starring role taking the audience on a journey through the brilliance of Bach, elegance of Haydn and dynamism of Gershwin.cMatilda is an ECHO Rising Star playing in Europe’s leading venues and Professor of Trumpet at Trinity Laban and has been shortlisted by the Royal Philharmonic S…

Harrogate International Festivals has announced the full line up of Special Guest headliners for the 2026 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival, the world’s largest and most prestigious celebration of crime fiction, taking place 23-26 July 2026.

One of Yorkshire’s classical music festivals has announced its 2026 line-up. Now in its 32nd year, the Northern Aldborough Festival puts the North Yorkshire village at the epicentre of classical music for ten days, from 18 to 27 June, 2026.

The Children’s Festival (October 18-19) is back by popular demand as part of this year’s Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival with a two-day programme of exciting events that promise fun for all the family.