Real ale event added to Dales food festival

These breweries include Wensleydale, Daleside, Theakstons, Black Sheep and Darwin's. This will compliment the food hall with its 80 stalls offering a wide choice of delicious Yorkshire produce, mostly from the Dales and including the Northern Dales Farmers' Market and the Wensleydale country market.

The festival begins this year on Saturday, April 30, and continues until Monday, May 2, 10am to 5pm each day. It will again be held on the spacious site on the edge of town opposite Tennants' Auction Rooms.

Just in case it rains, the marquee cover this year will be increased to 34,000 sq ft and more casual seating will be provided.

In the theatre marquee there will be a full programme of demonstrations by local chefs, mostly using produce from the food hall. And the festival's patron, Richard Whiteley, will again be exercising his "skills". In the popular farming marquee the display showing how food is grown and produced in the Dales will include interactive sections. There will also be sheep shearing demonstrations. The learning zone organised in co-operation with Defra will be of special interest to children and teachers.

As befits a food festival, there will be all types of catering on display from the silver service restaurant run by Darlington College of Technology assisted by senior pupils from the Wensleydale School, to buffalo burgers and a hog roast.

Besides the vintage fair attractions and music by trad jazz and brass bands, there will be many demonstrations and entertaining talks including that by Yorkshire author Gervase Phinn on the bank holiday Monday. Twice a day Wensleydale Dairy Products will demonstrate how cheese is made.

All children under 16 are admitted free of charge. A three-day ticket costs just £6 and a one- day ticket £4. There will again be a shuttle bus to Leyburn town centre and plenty space for free car parking.

For more information, contact Leyburn tourist information office on 01969 623069.