Rejoicing in Ripon: Family Weekend is a big hit at Ripon’s fabulous fifth theatre festival

🎭✨ Family Weekend is a big hit at Ripon’s fabulous fifth theatre festival

Footfall figures are yet to be finalised, but anybody in the city centre or Spa Gardens at the weekend, could see that the landmark fifth Ripon Theatre Festival was a resounding success.

From masterful puppetry to pop up poetry sessions at pubs and the Little Ripon Bookshop, the feast of free to enjoy readings, combined with interactive and engaging entertainment at the Big Family Weekend, began on Saturday in three zones – Market Place, Kirkgate and the Cathedral.
On Sunday, the spotlight was on the Spa Gardens and the Little Bird artisan market on the Market Square, which hosted a diverse selection of performances including Morris dancers, St Aelred’s Irish Dancers and Sarita McDermott’s ever-popular Ripon Goes Bollywood routine.

A fitting, family focused finale 🎭

The extended family weekend programme provided a fitting finale for the eight-day festival which has grown year on year under the skilful curatorship of director, Katie Stott.
In a brief break from the action at the Spa Gardens on Sunday afternoon, she told Tim Flanagan of the Rejoicing in Ripon Blog: “We have been blessed with the weather throughout and audience numbers are looking very good, but with so many venues involved in the 2026 festival, we won’t know the final figures for a few days.”
Katie, added: “Massive thanks go to the volunteers who played a crucial role throughout the eight days, ensuring that the festival ran smoothly and professionally, which added to the visitor experience.”
The extended programme was made possible thanks to the support of sponsors including Arts Council England, Ripon BID, North Yorkshire Council, Ripon City Council, Elstob Auctioneers, Little Bird Artisan Markets, Ripon Races, Specsavers Ripon, The Portly Pig and Last Stop Vintage Coach Hire.

A fabulous festival backdrop ✨

Everywhere that visitors and other attendees looked across the city’s historic and sun-soaked streets, was a hive of activity and adding to the spectacle was the superb hand-crafted displays, created by the non-stop knitters of Ripon Community Poppy Project and workers at Jennyruth Workshops.

The ‘Fill Your Boots’ displays, which celebrate the city’s heritage and historic characters, are in place at key locations in support of Ripon in Bloom’s attempt to win a second successive gold in this year’s Britain in Bloom Awards.

 

  1. Director Katie Scott thanked the army of volunteers and sponsors who made the 2026 festival a huge success.
  2.  Celebrated Ripon author Maggie Cobbett read out some of her poems at the pop-up poetry session held at the Little Ripon Bookshop.

3. The team of Irish dancers from St Aelred’s Church in Harrogate entertained crowds in both the Kirkgate and Market Place zones.

4. The Yorkshire Voices Choir had the cathedral as a magnificent backdrop for its selection of favourite songs

5. Different genres of music added to the party atmosphere on Kirkgate

6. The Lost Bus was a surprise find that grabbed the attention of festival goers

All photographs were taken by Tim Flanagan of the Rejoicing in Ripon Blog for Ripon BID