THE first-ever festival held in tandem with the Grand Départ of the Tour de France has proved a winner in its own right.

In the 100 days leading up to the big event in the summer, the Yorkshire Festival saw thousands of events held at venues all over the region.

Research has shown around 2,000 events and exhibition attracted more than 800,000 attendances with around 18,000 people actually taking part.

The research also found the festival generated close to £10m - and there are now plans in place for a biennial Yorkshire Festival of arts and culture from 2016.

And now judges for the prestigious UK Events Awards – which recognise and reward the best of Britain’s events industry – have named the Yorkshire Festival as the Cultural Event of the Year.

The idea for the festival came from the chief executive of tourism agency Welcome to Yorkshire, Gary Verity, who reacted to the news with delight.

“I am extremely pleased that the Yorkshire Festival has been awarded this accolade,” he said.

“It is a true testament to all the people involved and the hard work that went in to ensuring that the event was as successful as it was.”

The festival’s executive producer, Henrietta Duckworth, said the achievement confirmed the region’s position as a “cultural powerhouse.”

She added: “It recognises the explosion of creativity, participation and community spirit that people experienced through Yorkshire Festival projects in those exciting and inspirational 100 days.”

The festival was the first-ever arts event to preceded the Tour de France, one of the world's biggest sporting events.

It ran from March 27 to July 6 and as well as Welcome to Yorkshire it was backed by the Arts Council England and local authorities across the region.

The official report into the festival found it has “significantly enhanced the county’s cultural industry, forging a real sense of camaraderie, and had stimulated new work which would not have been produced otherwise.

Welcome to Yorkshire chair Clare Morrow said: "I have no doubt that the festival played a significant role in helping to deliver the huge crowds that turned out for the Grand Départ."