07.01.22

York Residents' Festival: over 70 attractions, events and offers announced

York Residents’ Festival is returning this January with over 70 attractions, events and offers. Taking place predominantly over the weekend of 29th - 30th January, some offers are extended for up to a week exclusively for York residents.

Major attractions in the city will be offering free entry to York residents, including York Minster, JORVIK Viking Centre, York Castle Museum and Merchant Adventurer’s Hall. For theatre lovers, there’ll be exclusive behind the scenes tour available to book at York Theatre Royal, Grand Opera House and Joseph Rowntree Theatre.

There’ll also be exclusive food and drink offers at some of York’s most popular bars and eateries, including Ambiente Tapas, The Rise Restaurant at The Grand, York and Plush Café. For the chocolate lovers, there are free tours on offer at York’s Chocolate Story and York Cocoa House, plus tasty discounts at Cocoa Joe’s and Heavenly Desserts.

For those wanting to explore outside of the city walls, Yorkshire Air Museum are offering free admission, Yorkshire Heart Vineyard and Brewery are offering free wine tours and there’s free admission to Beningbrough Hall.

For those who prefer to explore the city on foot, there are complimentary walking tours with Anne Lister in York Walking Tour, York Historic Pub Walks, Yorkshire Appetite’s York Food Tour and more.

There’ll also be a chance for York residents to get their hands on one of the 350 £5 York Gift Cards from York BID, in their Great Gift Card giveaway. As a thank you to residents for supporting local businesses, gift cards will be given on a first come, first served basis at the Visitor Information Centre at 1 Museum Street from 10am on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th January.

York Residents’ Festival is open to all York Residents who have a valid YorkCard or student ID card. YorkCards are available from all of York’s Explore libraries, with a £6 administration charge for adults (free for under 18s). YorkCards entitles users to discounts at a range of leisure facilities and attractions throughout the year.

Sarah Loftus, Managing Director of Make It York said: “York Residents’ Festival is our way of saying thank you to residents for sharing their beautiful city with tourists throughout the year. We’re so pleased to be able to offer over 70 special offers this year, with huge savings. It’s a brilliant opportunity to rediscover corners of the city and support our local businesses. Some of the venues do require pre-booking this year to ensure social distancing, so make sure you book your place as soon as you can!”

Councillor Keith Aspden, Leader of the Council said: “I’m delighted that York Residents’ Festival is once again back this year. After the challenging time we have all had over the last two years, the Festival promises to be a great way for residents to safely celebrate the many wonderful attractions on offer throughout York and support our local businesses.

“As always, our thanks go to all the partners around the city who have come together to make this event such a success.

“There is so much to explore and discover locally, with something for everyone on offer during this fun-packed weekend of activities. I hope residents take part, enjoy and celebrate our city!”

For the full list of offers for York Residents’ Festival, please visit www.visityork.org/resfest. Please note, some venues require pre-booking.

York Residents’ Festival is organised by Make It York, supported by City of York Council.

For more information:

Sarah Foster and Brittany Guymer

Make It York Communications team

Comms@makeityork.com

Notes to Editors:

About Make It York

Make It York’s purpose is to develop and promote the city and its surroundings – nationally and internationally - as a vibrant and attractive place to live, visit, study, work and do business. Its mission is to grow the economic prosperity and wider wellbeing of York and its citizens. In practice, this means delivering a range of projects and programmes based around our corporate strategic priorities.

These are: