Merry Christmas from the York Rally!

In this difficult and extraordinary year the York Rally team wishes you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year, and we really hope we can see many of you soon at another York Rally.

As you will know, sadly the 2020 Rally was cancelled in March due to COVID-19. Thank you again for all of the messages of support in the wake of this announcement.

Since then the organising committee has kept active and in regular contact, and we are in good shape to organise another Rally just as soon as conditions allow.

We will make a final decision on a Rally in 2021 at our upcoming meeting and AGM in January (see below).

At the moment we are cautious about raising any expectations for 2021. Even after the cancellation early this year, the Rally finances are sound but we cannot risk running anything but a ‘full throttle’ Rally – one which we can be confident will go ahead and one for which Rally-goers can be confident to book campsite pitches in advance. We will have to weigh up the welcome news of vaccines with the risk of ongoing restrictions.

We do want to run the Rally again just as soon as possible, which is why we are leaving the final call as late as we can. The final decision about a 2021 York Rally will be made at January’s meeting, and we will then let everyone know ASAP.

Meeting and AGM
The next York Rally meeting, and AGM, will take place virtually on the 23rd January 2021. As ever, all are welcome to attend. If you would like to join, please contact us.

We will let everyone know about the meeting’s decision on a 2021 Rally as soon as possible!

Meanwhile we wish all Rally-goers the best of health and cycling happiness, and a very Merry Christmas.

The all-volunteer York Rally Team

It would have been the York Rally weekend!

Just a quick note to thank all of the well-wishers and contributors who have left comments on this website, on the York Rally and Friends of York Rally Facebook pages, or contacted us direct, as we come up to the dates the York Rally would have taken place, had it not been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Head over to the Friends of York Rally Facebook page in particular to join in the celebration of the Rally that could have been – you can join fellow York Rally supporters in posting old photos and recalling treasured memories for everyone to enjoy!

As we spend this year’s Rally weekend at home we can certainly look forward to future events. The organising committee is active by correspondence and eager to resume planning for the next Rally.

We do very much hope and expect to be back in 2021 – but until we’ve confirmation of dates for the Knavesmire, and the committee has formally decided that the COVID-19 risk has sufficiently reduced, we’d rather not make any announcements just yet.

Just as soon as we have news of future events we’ll let everyone know!

Meanwhile, we wish all Rally-goers the best of health and safe cycling, until we can meet again in York!

The York Rally organising committee

York Rally 2020 cancelled

York Rally 2020 CANCELLED

We regret to announce that the 2020 York Rally has been cancelled. We are in the process of refunding all bookings in full. A further announcement with full details will be made shortly.

The York Rally Committee

Bands, beer and badges – we’re getting set for the 2020 Rally! Plus, cleaning and recruiting…

A rather belated update as we gear up for the 2020 York Rally in June!


Cwrw Ial beer and vegan pizza – both booked!

We’re delighted to announce the return of community brewing company Cwrw Ial to the York Rally! Pictured above at the 2016 Rally, they’ll be bringing a selection of their fine beers.

We’re also very happy that Mio Pizza, whose vegan menu went down so well at the last Rally that he sold out, will be back with increased stocks ready for a very busy weekend in 2020! 


Campsite – earlybird prices are still available!

For the full Rally experience it’s best to stay on site! And as ever, we’ve made sure that the earlier you book your campsite pitch, the cheaper the prices. The reduced rate earlybird fees are still available until the 30th April 2020. 

This year we welcome a long-standing friend of the Rally, Peter Poppy, to the campsite team. He’ll be handling bookings by post, so please do note the new address if you’re sending us your booking form , a copy of which you can download from our website.

For all the campsite details, and for both online and postal bookings, please just click the button:


Can you help with badge design?

Without a graphic designer on the York Rally volunteer team, we always struggle with designs for the York Rally badges. And this year, we’re also running low on badges for our supporters club, the Friends of York Rally – so we need a new (undated) design for that as well as one for the 2020 Rally.

We’d love to see your creative ideas! If you have even concept sketches (finished vector artwork is even better) please do email publicity@yorkrally.org and we’ll take it from there! Or just post them at the York Rally Facebook page if you prefer…

We note, by the way, that 2020 marks 75 years since the first York Rally in 1945 (see some history here). That may be something that could be commemorated in the badge design, too…


Bands and more booked!

To ensure that the Rally runs smoothly our team of hard-working volunteers books all sorts of things well in advance – marquees, toilets, showers, tables, fire extinguishers, catering… and also on the list is the artists who provide our live music!

We’re very happy that we have again booked American Routes, featuring Irene and Brian Hume (formerly of hit band Prelude) for the Saturday evening performance, and The Sonics will again be delivering their lively rock and roll set on Saturday morning!


Cleaning – changes afoot

An essential if less glamorous thing we must arrange before the Rally is cleaning of toilets and showers. Since we revived the Rally we have been incredibly fortunate that Rally-goers Pippa and John have taken on this role with incredible dedication, keeping the facilities spotless throughout the weekend and handing them back to the Racecourse in a better state than we found them! We have received numerous positive comments over the years, both from Rally-goers and the Racecourse.

For 2020, John and Pippa are stepping back from cleaning – we wish them many very well-deserved Rallies without this duty, and pass on our sincere thanks. 

That does mean we must make some alternative arrangements, and we feel we should recognise that it will be very hard to live up to the standards set by John & Pippa, who were on site full time.

We are currently looking at commercial cleaners who may come in a few times per day over the weekend, unless there’s someone among you who might want to take on the (paid) cleaning role? If that could be you, please email Charlie on trade@yorkrally.org to talk details!

And for everyone – please do bear with us if the new arrangements don’t quite rise to the level of previous years! We’ll certainly adjust for future Rallies once we see how any new cleaning arrangements work in 2020. And your assistance in ‘self-cleaning’ the facilities after use will be much appreciated in any case!


Help us recruit!

Do you know fellow cyclists who don’t yet join you in attending the York Rally? It would be great if all of our attendees, friends and supporters could make it a new year’s resolution to mention the Rally to at least one cycling friend in the coming months and urge them to come along! We’re happy with numbers so far, but the Rally’s ongoing vitality depends on new visitors – who we hope will become regulars!

Could you help distribute the Rally’s 2020 leaflet (per the picture at the top of this email?) At other events, at campsites or at cafes to fellow cyclists? If you would like some paper copies (A5) please just email with your address to publicity@yorkrally.org

Also on the recruitment front, we always need more willing volunteers to help on the organising committee – the only requirement is really that you can attend a good proportion of our meetings, which are around 8 times a year, on Saturnday mornings in York. In particular there’s a role for a volunteer fundraiser – if you fancy taking that on, we’ll do our very best to support you and make it a rewarding role! Please just contact Paul Reid on organiser@yorkrally.org or 07467 321443 if you’re interested.

Finally, please do keep sharing and mentioning our posts on social media – follow our Facebook page here and if you’d like to print or share our leaflet, it’s available here.


And finally…

All are welcome – especially newcomers, and anyone interested in joining our organising committee – at our next York Rally planning meeting, which takes place at 10am on 28 March 2020, at the Church Hall of St Chad’s on the Knavesmire, Campleshon Road, York. Please just let us know if you would like a lift from the railway station.

We’re looking forward to seeing many of you at the Rally in June!

With best regards,

The all-volunteer York Rally Team