Families are invited to celebrate the autumn season when Bishop Auckland’s Harvest Festival returns to the grounds of Auckland Palace on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September.
Taking place from 11am to 4pm and free to attend, the two-day festival will bring together growing, food, entertainment and hands-on activities, with the much-loved Bishop Auckland Horticultural & Produce Show at the heart of the weekend.
Presented as part of Hearth, the community regeneration programme delivered in partnership with The Auckland Project, the festival will celebrate the skills, traditions and creativity of Bishop Auckland and the surrounding area.
The Bishop Auckland Horticultural & Produce Show will run from 12pm to 4pm, showcasing traditional horticultural and produce entries and giving local growers, makers and bakers the chance to put their skills to the test.
New for this year is Plot to Plate: Potato Pot Luck, a special competition completing a growing journey which began at the Bishop Auckland Food Festival earlier this year. Children who planted heritage potatoes during the festival are being invited to bring their crop back for judging at 2pm on Saturday.
Across the grounds, families can also take part in the returning Growlympic Games, featuring countryside-inspired challenges including the ever-popular welly wanging, alongside harvest crown making, hands-on apple pressing and traditional side-stall games including Hook-a-Duck and Roll-a-Ball.
Live and roving entertainment will add to the atmosphere throughout the weekend. The Ran Tanners will perform traditional Georgian and Victorian music on fiddles, bagpipes and squeezeboxes, while Fairly Famous Family will bring a pair of giant comedy gardeners to the Palace grounds with wheelbarrows, lawn tricks and interactive entertainment.
Their Grow Your Own Show will combine comedy, fruit juggling and vegetable cookery, with a special appearance from Peter Rabbit.
Saturday’s programme will also form part of the Bishop Auckland Heritage Festival, bringing the town’s history, stories and traditions into the wider harvest celebrations.
Visitors will be able to enjoy food and drink throughout the weekend, including fresh, stone baked sourdough pizzas from the Palace Pizza Van and freshly baked bread, pies, doughnuts and sweet treats from the Farm Shop.
Laura Roberts, Creative Producer at Hearth, said: “Harvest Festival is a celebration of the things people grow, make and share, and of the traditions that bring communities together.
“The Horticultural & Produce Show is at the heart of the weekend and we’re looking forward to welcoming growers, bakers, families and visitors back to Auckland Palace for two days of friendly competition, entertainment and hands-on activities.
“This year’s Plot to Plate challenge is particularly exciting because it connects Harvest Festival with the Bishop Auckland Food Festival earlier in the year. We hope the children who planted their heritage potatoes have been busy looking after them over the summer and will bring their crops back to see how they measure up!
“And, of course, there will be another chance for everyone to test their skills in the Growlympic Games – including seeing who can wang a welly the furthest.”
Bishop Auckland Harvest Festival takes place at Auckland Palace on Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, from 11am to 4pm.
Activities in the grounds are free to attend, thanks to generous external support. Bishop’s Kitchen café can also be accessed without admission, while a ticket is required to enter Auckland Palace itself.
This is the second in Hearth’s series of Beacon Events, each designed to spark community connection and creativity. Hearth is developed in partnership with The Auckland Project and supported by SHED.
