With just over five weeks to go until the first Yorkshire Cycle Festival at Driffield Showground, it’s time for another update! Apologies, this is a long one – but there’s lots of good news!
Read on for the latest on:
- The new venue, after our site visit, and campsite bookings update
- Arena events & displays
- Rides
- Trade show
- Clubs & displays
- Talks
- Cycle jumble bookings
- Electric bike charging
- Badges, caps, hats & mugs
- Volunteer and support!
New venue and site visit
Many of our all-volunteer organising team visited the new venue, Driffield Showground, in mid April – the first time some of us had been there. As expected, all was looking really good. We’ve confirmed our layout for campsite and other show elements – very much as shown on our last newsletter – and also met some of the very helpful venue team. Many logistical details have been sorted out, so as an organising team we’re in a really good place to run a smooth, safe event in June!
Also, we’re delighted to report that the change of venue has not seen any fall in campsite bookings, although we do know that some old friends of the event are sadly unable to join us after the move. But campsite booking numbers are looking really good and maybe even a little ahead of this time last year, so we’re looking forward to a well filled campsite in Driffield!
If you haven’t yet booked your pitch, you can book a pitch online until the 5th June (or book glamping here!). You can also just turn up and pay for camping on the day – we will not run out of space, but it will be slightly more expensive, and we won’t be able to pre-allocate you a pitch alongside your friends or clubmates.
Arena events and displays
We’re looking forward to fantastic attractions through the weekend including:
- Another round of the Chopper World Championships!
- Airbag jumps, courtesy of Focus Rides! Sign-up in advance is needed to take part – bookings will open shortly via the Focus Rides website.
- The Retrobike Show and Shine will be back bigger and better than ever on the Saturday, with five categories and a new “people’s choice” vote!
- The 20″ Show will make its debut for all things 20″ wheel, and we’re delighted to welcome to the Festival the good folk from BMXR UK and BMX Life, Old Skool Cranks and the Raleigh BMX, Chopper and Grifter Group!
Guided Rides 2026
Variety! There is a wide variety of guided rides in offer this year, including themed road rides, gravel rides, off-road rides, rides for those with non-conventional cycles, a women and girls only ride, a family-friendly ride, the annual church service ride and, of course the ever-popular Friday night fish and chip shop rides.
- The York Wednesday Wheelers have organised a Tribute Ride to Fridaythorpe in memory of a much-loved member of their club, Martyn Atkins, who passed away suddenly, whilst out cycling with his friends. Participants are asked to make a donation to the Walk, Wheel and Cycle Trust (aka Sustrans) which was a cause close to Martyn’s heart. The collection box will be in the Info Hub.
- We are excited to be welcoming the Driffield Four Season Breezers, who will be offering two guided rides. The women-only ride requires registration in advance here on the British Cycling “Let’s Ride” website. You may need to register with Breeze first.
- We are delighted to welcome the North Yorkshire Mountain Bike Orienteers who are organising one on-site event and one off-site.
- There are also some self-guided rides within the local area, including a “Codebreaker” ride around the town, with a reward for each finisher! Read more here on Discover Driffield.
- Audaxes: for any cyclist up for the challenge, the Festival is hosting three Audax rides: 50k, 100k and the National 400k. Click any of the links to register for these events through Audax UK.
We are indebted to all of the club cyclists who have given time to devise, ride and check all of the routes for the Festival’s Guided Rides Programme. Without these people, the rides simply couldn’t happen. If you could help for this for future events, please just contact our rides team on rides@yorkrally.org
Trade Show and exhibits
We’ve had wonderful support from traders for the new venue and as I write this, we’re at a record for recent years, with 40+ exhibitors including many loyal suppliers and many most welcome new names, including Pace Cycles, Islabikes and Stanforth Bikes. The trade show will run all weekend and like the rest of the Festival, entry is completely free of charge. There’s still time for potential exhibitors to book in – please just contact us!
Alongside the trade show many thanks to the many clubs, societies and individuals who will also be exhibiting and sharing their enthusiasm!
More updates!
Talks
We have a compact programme of four very interesting talks lined up so far – many thanks to our volunteer presenters! If anyone else would like to speak on any cycling topic that could be of interest to your fellow Festival goers, that would be massively appreciated – please just contact us! Talks will be indoors this year, with excellent presentation facilities.
Cycle jumble – stands free with camping, bookings open now
The cycle jumble this year is all outside stands – bring a gazebo if you wish – and it runs all weekend, for all sorts of used bikes and related items. Stands are free with any campsite booking! Or there’s just a small fee if you aren’t camping on site. We now have an online booking system for cycle jumble pitches – bookings are open now!
Electric bike charging confirmed
For the first time, the Festival will have a limited number of charging points for electric bikes. These will be located next to a suitable fence or barriers so that bikes can be secured, and a gazebo to provide shelter in case of bad weather. We aren’t able to provide a booking or concierge service, so it will be ‘first come first served’ and please ensure your e-bikes and/or batteries are locked up, as they will be left at your own risk.
Badges, baseball caps, bucket hats and mugs!
Currently in production, there’ll be a selection of Yorkshire Cycle Festival merchandise on sale, as pictured above! Just come to the Info Hub during the event…
Volunteer and support
We’re always needing more hands to make light work of all the tasks involved!
- If you could arrive early (from Wednesday onwards) and would be able to help with the set-up, please drop a note to our Treasurer, Rachel, who is acting as Volunteer Co-ordinator this year, on treasurer@yorkrally.org
- On which topic, please also drop her a note if you think you might like to take on that important role for the event!
- If anyone could get to our old venue, the Knavesmire in York, at 9am on Wednesday 10th June, all help would be appreciated as we clear the old storage lock-up and load vans to transport our kit to the new Driffield venue! Again, if you can help please just drop a note to Rachel.
- Finally a reminder that we massively appreciate your support in keeping this event alive! You can support our all-volunteer team by joining our supporter’s club, at any time or at the event:
And finally
Thank you again for all of your support, and we look forward to seeing everyone at Driffield in June! Until then, tailwinds and safe cycling in 2026!
The all-volunteer Yorkshire Cycle Rally & Festival organising team