A fireworks display, which had been due to take place tomorrow night as part of Ripon’s New Year’s Eve celebrations, has been cancelled.

No reason for the cancellation has yet been given and it is currently unclear whether the rest of the night’s activities will take place.

Ripon City Council leader Andrew Williams, told the Stray Ferret:

“We are having to cancel the display due to circumstances that are beyond our control and are also in discussion with authorities regarding the concert element planned for tomorrow.

“We will provide a further update later.”

Free entertainment was due to begin with the Ripon Hornblower ceremony at the obelisk at 9pm, followed by an Oasis tribute act and the Big Boyband Reunion.

The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin, was then due to address the audience at 11.55pm and, following a blessing by the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt. Rev Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, the fireworks display was scheduled to start as the town hall clock strikes 12.

Read more:

• Ripon’s New Year’s Eve celebrations set to go ahead
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The organisers of this year’s Ripley Show have announced it will be cancelled due to the pandemic.

On a post on their website, organisers said despite the roadmap out of lockdown and vaccination numbers offering a positive outlook the “proposed conditions are near impossible to comply with on the show ground”.

The show is organised by Ripley and District Agricultural and Horticultural Show Ltd, it said it had explored every avenue to hold the show but said it had to put the health and safety of visitors first.

The event was set to go ahead on Sunday, August 4. But the committee has said to keep the character of the show visitors have come to love it would not be reasonable to enforce social distancing.

The show was also cancelled in 2020 and is usually held on the Ripley Castle Estate.

The show has been going for over 170 years making it a tough decision for the committee to make. Chairman Michael Smith said:

“The committee and I are deeply disappointed to admit defeat, despite our best efforts. We are proud of our fantastic show and giving our visitors and competitors the experience they have come to know and love over the last 170+ years.

Sadly we can’t guarantee a covid-secure show ground and feel it would be unwise for us to go ahead.”

A date for 2022 has already been set, August 14.

The committee at Ripley Show said it wanted to thank Ripley Castle Estate, our loyal sponsors and volunteers, competitors, trade stands, contractors, spectators and the wider local community for their continued support.

Shows, elsewhere in the district, such as Birstwith, Weeton, Tockwith and Nidderdale are still hoping to go ahead.

Plans for the Great Yorkshire Show are being reviewed regularly. Some of the venue is currently being used as a vaccination centre.

Read more:

• Weeton Show set to go ahead in July. 
• Birstwith Show set to return in July. 
• Tockwith Show asks volunteers to come forward to ensure the event goes ahead. 
• Organisers optimistic for this year’s Nidderdale Show.
• Great Yorkshire Show looks set to go ahead in July. 

A Remembrance service will be held at the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Harrogate next month, but with just a handful of people taking part.

Usually attended by dozens of dignitaries and organisations, the Stonefall event will this year be on a much smaller scaled because of covid restrictions.

Harrogate Brigantes Rotary Club said a few of its members will lay wreaths on behalf of the Royal British Legion, politicians and local service groups. They will also lay a special wreath on behalf of the New Zealand city of Christchurch to remember those that came from across the world to serve.

Reverend David Hoskins will still give a blessing at the closed event on November 8 at 1pm. A few members of the club will lay wreaths on behalf of the Royal British Legion, politicians and local service groups.

Read more:

• Ripon and Harrogate resplendent in readiness for remembrance
• Harrogate district to mark Remembrance Day at home this year

After the wreath laying, the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery will be open to the public for quiet contemplation around the stone of remembrance.

The Brigantes Rotary Club has asked the Harrogate community to “remember in your hearts and say a silent thank you to those who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today.”

Meanwhile, the church service and parade through Knaresborough will also not go ahead. The Knaresborough branch of the Royal British Legion has asked residents to hold their own two-minute silences at home instead.

Harrogate’s town centre parade and service has also been called off.

Knaresborough Christmas market will not go ahead after the county council said it could not safely give permission for the event.

The market was one of the only remaining events still planning to go ahead during the festive season. But with others locally, including Leeds and Harrogate, being cancelled, North Yorkshire County Council was concerned it could attract even larger crowds than usual.

One of its organisers, Hazel Haas, said the decision “wasn’t unexpected” and the residents of Knaresborough are the top priority.

Hazel, chair of the Knaresborough Christmas Market committee, said:

“We planned it all along knowing it may happen. We cut out the parts which attracted queues and crowds and spread the stalls out. It’s really sad for Knaresborough, but if it prevents a single person from Knaresborough getting [covid] we are happy.

“We’ve worked closely with Harrogate Borough Council to find different layouts – we did everything we could to make it work but it couldn’t happen. Next year will be bigger and better.”

The organisers say many of the new ideas will be used next year to ensure a bigger and better Christmas market.

The market was amended to ensure safety by cancelling the annual fireworks display and live entertainment and reducing the number of stalls but Hazel said the risks “were just too great”.

She added:

“We understand the decision, which is being made in everyone’s interests.”

Read more:

• Harrogate Christmas Market organisers “devastated” as the event in cancelled. 
• Harrogate’s annual lantern parade has had to be cancelled following safety concerns. 

This event is another casualty for the festive season, with many annual events unable to go ahead.

The decision comes as coronavirus cases in the district are slowly rising – a further six new cases were reported yesterday. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the Harrogate district since the beginning of the pandemic to 894.

A Harrogate family who delayed a series of celebrations during lockdown have had their plans dashed once again.

The Wood family had three children’s birthdays and one new baby to celebrate during covid, but were unable to do so and decided to mark them all together later this month.

However, the new six-person rule has forced the cancellation of events planned previously when limits were set at 30 people – leaving the Woods disappointed again. As a family of six, they are unable to meet up with anyone under the new restrictions.

“The family were very disappointed at not being able to share the joy physically that a new baby brings. There was lot of concern over the baby’s health and size, which also caused concern. Thankfully everything is well, but as you can imagine it was a worrying time.

“We’ve had to cancel our birthday plans for mid-September which would have included 20 to 30 family members and friends. My children feel disheartened, they feel it’s just a waiting game. It’s sad children can’t enjoy the things that help make their childhood, like unlimited access to family including birthday parties and celebrations.”

Read more:

• WATCH as parents send their children off to school for the first time in six months. 
• Despite two cancellations, one due to lockdown, a couple’s dream wedding will go ahead in the winter. 

“I understand the reasoning behind the government’s new guidelines but feel they could be elaborated more clearly. Apparently my daughter’s drama classes can go ahead but she can’t go to her friend’s birthday party in a week’s time. Maybe there isn’t a right or a wrong way but to place new restrictions and then send children back to school with no measures in place is confusing.”

Harrogate Christmas Market 2020 will not go ahead after officials raised concerns about the potential spread of coronavirus.

The Stray Ferret reported last week that the market would likely be cancelled, dealing a blow to local businesses which benefit from the influx of up to 60,000 visitors.

The event’s vice-chairman, Steve Scarre, said:

“Harrogate Christmas Market would not have been possible without the Herculean efforts of organisers Brian and Beryl Dunsby and all the other volunteers. I know that Brian and Beryl are devastated to have had to cancel this year’s event, but to compromise the safety of visitors, stallholders, local businesses, contractors, volunteers, and residents would be unthinkable.

“I know that the local retail and hospitality businesses really look forward to the market, as it’s held during an otherwise quiet month. Our hearts go out to them, as the cancellation comes on top of a difficult and in some cases disastrous trading period over the last twelve months.”

Read more:

• The impact of the Christmas Market cancellation
• Knaresborough Christmas Market will go ahead

This week, Harrogate Borough Council officers met with the director of public health for North Yorkshire to set out precautions and questions for the event organisers.

Key elements included social distancing at two metres, controlling the number of people at the event, and contact tracing for all visitors. There were also concerns about visitors arriving from areas with higher infection rates.

With such an open event on the Stray near the Montpellier Quarter, where people are usually free to wander in and out through multiple entrances and aisles, the organisers said they cannot meet the requirements and have now cancelled.

It is the first time that the four-day event, which has been running annually since 2012, has been called off.

To try and mitigate for the loss of trade that the 180 local and regional businesses which had already signed up to the event, the organiser are preparing to set up a virtual market on a new website. It will also feature local businesses which have supported the market.

Knaresborough Christmas Market will still go ahead this December after organisers found ways to ensure visitor safety.

A Wedding planner from Harrogate has offered some advice to couples that were supposed to walk down the aisle this summer.

Laura Lindsay, who is a wedding planner in Harrogate, usually organises around 50 weddings between April to August but said that everything is 100% a write off until at least August.

Laura has 5 tips of advice for couples who were or are still planning to get married in 2020:

1. Have a plan B: I know many couples are hanging in there to get married this year, but it is sensible to check with your venue what is available for 2021 as dates will fill up quickly.
2.  Think of other the other ways you can get married: Human ceremonies, celebrants, possibly look at going to the registry office midweek to do the legal part…
3. Use this time wisely: a lot of people are furloughed and at home so if you have any DIY crafts that you want to do for your wedding… do it now!
4. Make a list of all your suppliers: Helps if you are planning a Plan B wedding… As you don’t want to realise further down the line that your photographer or makeup artist is booked up on your new date.
5. Look at the positives: It might not feel like there are any at the moment, BUT your big day will be valued so much more, it will be an amazing celebration as we’ve all missed each other so much!

Jade Edwards and Henry Stam were meant to tie the knot on May 9, at Rudding Park, but due to coronavirus, their big day has been postponed.

To make matters worse the couple weren’t even able to spend their ‘not wedding day’ together as Henry works as a doctor in A&E at Harrogate Hospital. Jade told the Stray Ferret that the whole thing has been very sad:

 It was meant to be such a special year, it’s just so sad… Henry has moved into an apartment in Harrogate as he is very much on the front line of the pandemic and we have an 11-month-old daughter so he didn’t want to put her or me at risk, so we couldn’t even spend the day together… a few other couples we know got dressed up and had a nice meal at home, but we couldn’t do that.

Henry isn’t very emotional, but even he said that at 1pm last Saturday he was looking at his watch thinking about where we should have been… But it’s out of our control, we will just have to look forward to next year.

The couple initially postponed the ceremony to the 4th July, but as time went out they realised that, even if it could go ahead then, that it wouldn’t be the wedding they wanted.

I didn’t want everyone to be in face mask or for my older relatives to not be able to come, so we thought it was best to just push it back until next year… The venue have been brilliant, they have just dealt with the whole thing for us, nothing was an issue.

Laura Lindsay who is a wedding planner in Harrogate, usually organises 50 weddings between April and September. She told the Stray Ferret that this is not something the industry ever imagined having to go through :

 Everything up until august is out of the window for most of my brides… and anyone who is holding out is looking at a different style of wedding day… this is no longer 100 guests it’s on a much smaller scale.

2020 brides will have bought their products, personalised them with their dates date, sent out invites… they are now having to do this twice which is an added expense.

With the majority of weddings this year being moved over to 2021 Laura advised that people secured their dates quickly. She went on to say:

I just want to remind you all when you’re feeling down that your wedding will happen and when it does it is going to be an amazing celebration,  there will be people that won’t of seen each other in such a long time and the whole day will be valued so much more.