The Graves Park Food and Drink Festival will see street food, artisan markets, an ale house, live music and entertainment as well as a fun fair, cookery demonstrations hosted in the centre of the park.
Organised by the creators of the North Leeds Food Festival, the festival style event will take place over two days on the 30th and 31st of August after a license was granted at a Charity Trustee Policy Sub-Committee meeting, yesterday (21st January 2025).
In the report to committee, organisers say the event will be ‘priced at an accessible level’ with early bird tickets for adults starting at £5.95, under 16s at £2.95 and under 5’s going free.
“This event is a fantastic opportunity for the local community to come together to enjoy good food and great entertainment in their local park, at reasonable prices.
“By offering events and activities like the Graves Park Food and Drink Festival, we give our local people the chance to try new things, enjoy days out in their local area and spend more time in the outdoors.
“We also hope the event will attract new users to come and see what Graves Parks has to offer, in turn supporting local vendors and businesses in the area.”
Councillor Richard Williams, Chair of the Charity Trustee Policy Sub-Committee.
As part of the agreement, the event will see a small portion of the park – approximately 2% of the total park area – temporarily fenced off to be used only by those attending the event. The rest of the park would remain open and accessible to the public as normal.
Event organisers will also pay a fee to use the parkland for the event, which will be paid in the charity account for the park. They would also be responsible for preventing and repairing any damage to the park, in addition to the fee paid.
The proposal put forward by the organisers also outlined their intention to work with local charity Sheffield Mind to raise funds that benefit people in the local area. They have already raised over £127,000 for local mind charities across the country and expect to raise around £4,000 for Sheffield Mind at this year’s event.