York Residents’ Festival 2026 – Most Successful Year to Date

York Residents’ Festival 2026 has delivered its most successful year to date, with record levels of resident engagement, increased partner participation and strong performance across Visit York’s marketing and communications channels.

Organised by Make It York and delivered by Visit York, the resident-only festival returned on Saturday 31 January and Sunday 1 February, offering people who live in York exclusive access to free entry, special offers and unique experiences across the city’s attractions, cultural venues and hospitality businesses.

Designed to celebrate York’s residents and encourage them to explore and enjoy the city they live in, the 2026 festival featured 86 exclusive offers – a 23% increase on the previous year – reflecting growing confidence and participation from local businesses and attractions.

Residents were invited to discover York’s best attractions and fill their weekend with unique local experiences, supported by clear guidance on how to take part. Eligibility information was embedded throughout campaign messaging, with residents asked to present a valid York Card, student card or official ID confirming York residency, and to check individual listings for pre-booking requirements, limited availability or first-come-first-served offers.

Visit York’s website acted as the central hub for festival information, listings and planning, supporting residents to explore offers and engage directly with participating partners. While the festival weekend has now concluded for 2026, campaign messaging also signposted residents to a wide range of seasonal and year-round resident-only offers, helping to extend engagement beyond the event itself.

Marketing and campaign highlights

• 287,400 social media impressions, up 487% year-on-year
• 192,300 total social reach across Facebook and Instagram
• 100,300 views to York Residents’ Festival-related website content
• 57,600 views to the main Residents’ Festival offers page
• 10,230 outbound clicks from Visit York to partner websites, an 8.6% year-on-year increase
• 61,600 email recipients reached across 12 newsletters, with an average open rate of 46.9%
• 45 pieces of local and regional media coverage, generating 1.79 million opportunities to see

Feedback from participating members highlighted strong awareness driven by festival publicity and meaningful engagement from local audiences across the weekend.

One participating business commented:

“Always grateful for the Festival in terms of a boost to our visitor numbers in January.”

Another member noted the direct impact of the campaign on attendance:

“Higher than usual local residents came, saying they had come because it was Residents Weekend so they had seen the publicity.”

Others reflected on the quality and range of engagement:

“A great day with some lovely visitors and visitor feedback,”
and
“We noticed a shift this year in visitor demographics – more families were visiting.”

PR coverage across local and regional media further reinforced the festival’s value as a resident-only initiative, celebrating the opportunity for local people to reconnect with York’s cultural, heritage and leisure offer.

By placing residents at the heart of delivery, York Residents’ Festival continues to support local businesses, strengthen community connection and encourage year-round engagement with the city’s attractions. Visit York and Make It York look forward to building on this success and continuing to champion activity that celebrates York’s residents and the places they love.