Yorkshire Cycle Festival 2026, 12-14 June, Driffield Showground

[bikepete]

Many thanks to all who made the 2025 York Cycle Rally & Festival such an enjoyable event.

We now have some major news about the 2026 event, following today's organising team meeting at which some serious and urgent decisions were made.

The next event will be held at Driffield Showground on the 12th to 14th June 2026, because for reasons beyond our control we cannot use the Knavesmire in York. Accordingly, it will be called the Yorkshire Cycle Festival 2026.

As last year, the Yorkshire Cycle Festival 2026 will bring together:

• The York Cycle Rally
• The Retrobike Show
• The 20" Show
• The Summer Meet of the National Clarion Cycling Club

For the full background to this decision, some first info about the very promising venue in Driffield, and to find out how you can help make 2026 the best event yet in its new home, please see here:

https://yorkrally.org/2025/11/22/major-news-for-2026/

Campsite bookings are open now - we have frozen prices, and also extended the earlybird reduced-price booking period until the end of January, in light of this late opening of bookings:

https://yorkrally.org/visitor-informati ... -bookings/

As ever, your all-volunteer organising committee hugely values your support as we do our very best to keep this event alive and successful, and we very much hope to see you in Driffield in June.

[jgurney]

I hope it works. Accessibility may be a problem.

Driffield has two trains per hour from Hull or beyond and one from Scarborough on Fris and Sats and one each way on Suns. Each are operated with stock which has a limit of two bikes (or sometimes four) per train. That is much fewer cycle spaces available than there are to York.

I suspect that a lot more of the people who rode to York Rally from home lived to the west of the city than lived to the east. Driffield being 32 miles east of York may become out of range for some of them unless they add an overnight stop.

[mattheus]

...
I suspect that a lot more of the people who rode to York Rally from home lived to the west of the city than lived to the east. Driffield being 32 miles east of York may become out of range for some of them unless they add an overnight stop.

... and it doesn't look there's a nice route from York. I know you can ride york-Pocklington nicely, but it looks rubbish beyond that?

Shame.

[foxyrider]

...
I suspect that a lot more of the people who rode to York Rally from home lived to the west of the city than lived to the east. Driffield being 32 miles east of York may become out of range for some of them unless they add an overnight stop.

... and it doesn't look there's a nice route from York. I know you can ride york-Pocklington nicely, but it looks rubbish beyond that?

Shame.

but you don't have to come from York!

I will probably be riding from Leeds (its where my kidlings live and i'll be shanksy's pony for a lot of the camping gear!) and i will probably take a route essentially following the river from Leeds to Howden or even as far as Hull before cutting up to Driffield.

There are direct trains from Leeds and Sheffield/Doncaster so whilst it may take a little longer its quite possible to do without going via York.

Whilst the i'll miss the 'convenience' of York, i'd far rather have the event at Driffield than not at all and its an opportunity for folk to explore the 'forgotten' East Riding of GOC. Maybe the shorter ride from Hull might encourage some of the Dutch visitors back that we had in the past.

Don't be put off by the change of venue, they might not know it yet but the real losers are York City Council.

[mjr]

There are direct trains from Leeds and Sheffield/Doncaster so whilst it may take a little longer its quite possible to do without going via York.

I think it would be good for the organiser's site to talk up the Doncaster service, as I missed it at first glance and it's a very useful mainline connection. The page linked above only mentions York and Hull, which are both annoying to use from the non-London south.

[bikepete]

Thanks all, I've added a mention of the Doncaster and Leeds direct trains to the posting about the new venue.

Also added a note that the Way of the Roses coast to coast route includes a section from York to Driffield.

[mattheus]

Thanks all, I've added a mention of the Doncaster and Leeds direct trains to the posting about the new venue.

Also added a note that the Way of the Roses coast to coast route includes a section from York to Driffield.

good news! I've now also found it on cycle.travel. Google - as usual - doesn't know every cycle route:
https://cycle.travel/route/way_of_the_roses

[PH]

...
I suspect that a lot more of the people who rode to York Rally from home lived to the west of the city than lived to the east. Driffield being 32 miles east of York may become out of range for some of them unless they add an overnight stop.

... and it doesn't look there's a nice route from York. I know you can ride york-Pocklington nicely, but it looks rubbish beyond that?

Shame.

but you don't have to come from York!

Just that. But if the extra distance put it out of reach and you combined it with a train, it'd often make more sense to get that part out of the way first.

[pete75]

...
I suspect that a lot more of the people who rode to York Rally from home lived to the west of the city than lived to the east. Driffield being 32 miles east of York may become out of range for some of them unless they add an overnight stop.

... and it doesn't look there's a nice route from York. I know you can ride york-Pocklington nicely, but it looks rubbish beyond that?

Shame.

Actually there's quite a pleasant route. Go from Pocklington to Millington and then ride through Millington Pastures, a quite beautiful chalk valley. https://www.google.com/maps/@53.968144, ... FQAw%3D%3D