We’ve welcomed in the new year and if you are planning to get out and about more, there are plenty of events across North Yorkshire for all the family.

We can’t include everything here, so be sure to keep a look out for local events where you live, too.

If you are organising a major event in North Yorkshire, please tell us and we’ll do our best to include it in a future issue. Just email yny@northyorks.gov.uk.

From January

Join the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s Waves of Waste co-ordinators as they give Filey, Cayton and Scarborough beaches a thorough tidy up to protect marine wildlife.

There are various events throughout 2025.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust is working to tackle the problems of marine pollution, working with sea users and communities to reduce litter in the first place and safely dispose of rubbish found in the sea.

See more details and to book a place on the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust website.

13 January

Book your free place on the Social Making Workshop, taking place between 6pm and 8pm at Craven Arts House, Otley Street, Skipton, BD23 1ET.

Everyone is welcome at the creative gathering, and visitors can either bring along a creative project they are working on or start a new one.

For more details, visit the Craven Arts website.

Positivity and Poetry, a two-hour mini-writing retreat, takes place at Rural Arts, The Courthouse, 4 Westgate, Thirsk, YO7 1QS.

Join Olivia Mulligan for a rejuvenating session focused on positivity and poetry.

The event runs from 10.30am to 12.30pm and costs £20. For more details, visit the Rural Arts website.

13 to 18 January

Dick Whittington is being performed at the Whitby Pavilion, West Cliff, Whitby YO21 3EN.

Join Whitby’s Apollo Players as they take to the stage for this family-friendly pantomime.

The production follows the exploits of Dick Whittington, aided by his feline friend, to rid the city from the clutches of the evil King Rats and fulfil his dream to become Lord Mayor of London.

Tickets are priced from £10.50 and for more details, visit the Whitby Pavilion website.

15 January

Enjoy a bowl of homemade soup while listening to the Park Avenue Jazz Quartet at Settle Victoria Hall.

Park Avenue Jazz Quartet are a Skipton-based band, playing laid-back jazz standards including In a Sentimental Mood, Fly Me to the Moon, Autumn Leaves, some bossa nova pieces, Misty, What a Wonderful World and other renditions.

Tickets are £7.50, including soup and a hot drink, and the venue can be found at 24 Kirkgate, Settle, BD24 9DZ.

Tickets can also be bought online, by calling 01729 825718, or in person at our box office.

For more details, visit the Settle Victoria Hall website.

16 to 25 January

The Knaresborough Players will be performing their annual family pantomime Puss in Boots at the Frazer Theatre, Knaresborough, HG5 0EQ.

Tickets are from £10 general admission, with over 60s and under 18s from £8.

For more details visit the Frazer Theatre website.

Pickering Musical Society presents Robinson Crusoe at the Kirk Theatre in Pickering until 25 January.

Families visiting the Kirk Theatre can look forward to a performance of comedy, singing, dancing, slapstick and special effects.

The theatre is located at Hungate, Pickering, YO18 7DL.

For more details, visit the Discover Yorkshire Coast website.

17 January

After a sell-out series of guided star gazing evenings last year, astronomer Chris Higgins returns to Broughton Sanctuary on the Broughton Hall Estate in Skipton.

Whether you are an avid stargazer or a novice enthralled by the universe, visitors will be able to bring their binoculars or use powerful stargazing equipment for educative tours with an expert astronomer. Events will allow you to witness awe-inspiring deep sky wonders, and marvel at the cosmos up close.

Broughton By Night costs £42 per person and 50 per cent of all bookings are reinvested in Broughton Sanctuary’s nature recovery programme. The event runs from 5.30pm to 7pm.

For more details visit the Yorkshire Dales website.

18 January

Thirsk Library is holding a Repair Your Stuff session at the venue in Meadowfields, Chapel Street, Thirsk, YO7 1TH.

The event will show how to be greener by avoiding waste and save money with a team of dedicated and talented volunteers trying to repair broken or “worn-out” items. The charge is a voluntary donation.

The event runs from 10am to 1pm, with the last customer at 12.30pm.

For further details or if you would like to volunteer, please email thirskrepaircafe@gmail.com.

A tabletop sale is taking place at Thirsk and Sowerby Town Hall, Westgate, YO7 1QS between 10am and 2pm. Tables are available to book for sellers at a cost of £5 per table. For more details contact 07724 993468.

23 January

Thirkleby Local History’s Christmas party takes place at Thirkleby Village Hall, Great Thirkleby.

The belated festive event starts at 1pm, costs £6 and booking is essential. For more details, call 01845 501365.

24 January

Join Karen Powell, the York-based author of the highly acclaimed The River Within and the Nero Award-nominated Fifteen Wild Decembers, for an evening at Northallerton library.

Karen grew up in Rochester, Kent, but now lives with her family in North Yorkshire.

Her first novel, The River Within, was published in 2020 and won a Northern Writers Award. It is set in a village on the North York Moors in the 1950s. Through the tangled relationships that lead to and emerge from a tragic drowning, the story explores the restrictions and obligations of class and the changes that threaten an established way of life in the post-war years.

Karen most recent novel, Fifteen Wild Decembers, follows Emily Brontë and her siblings as they are torn from the wild moors of their family home in Yorkshire to venture into the world to earn a living.

Karen will talk about her novels and her writing experience at the library. The event begins at 6.45pm. Admission is free, but there is a suggested donation of £3. Booking is essential, as places are limited.

For more details, visit the Northallerton Library page.

A Writing for Wellbeing workshop is being held in the conservatory in Scampston Walled Garden between 11am and 12.30pm.

The cost is £15 and includes tea, coffee and biscuits.

The leader is Sandie Day, a writer, poetry therapist and flower essence practitioner.

For more information and booking, visit the Scampston Hall website.

Join the Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery for a night of Scottish tradition, with a Yorkshire twist.

Celebrate the life and poetry of Robert Burns with a delicious three-course dinner, paired with Filey Bay whiskies. The evening will include a live performance from Scottish singer-songwriter Gary Stewart and will be hosted by Amy Teasdale, Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery brand ambassador.

The venue can be found at Unit 1, Hunmanby Industrial Estate, Hunmanby.

Tickets are £45 and for more details, visit the Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery website.

25 January

The Dalby Forest five-mile head torch race takes place on the tracks and trails through Dalby Forest, near Pickering.

The race will be on single tracks and trails through the forest, mostly unused by the public and some only run on for the event. Participants have been urged to be aware that the course can be muddy.

For more details, visit the Mad Bull Events website.

28 January

The Apollo Saxophone Quartet are performing at Skipton Town Hall, High Street, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 1AH.

The group has enjoyed four decades at the forefront of the UK classical music scene, commissioning and premiering more than 100 works.

This concert includes five recent commissions from some of the most exciting new generation of UK composers.

The event starts at 7.30pm and for more details, visit the Skipton Town Hall website.

30 January

Award-winning comedian, Miles Jupp, brings his show, On I Bang, to Harrogate Theatre.

A tale about surprise, fear, luck, love and qualified medical practitioners, tickets are priced from £28.

For more details and ticket information, visit the Harrogate Theatre website.

31 January

Thirsk Hall is hosting a house and architecture tour from 11am.

The tour is ideal for history lovers and will give visitors an exclusive insight into the hall’s history.

Led by 18th century historian, Dr Helen Metcalfe, guests are guided through the rooms of the house before sitting down to enjoy refreshments served in The Old Dining Room with a question and answer session. The tour last approximately one-and-a-half hours.

Tickets are £20 per person.

For more details, visit the Thirsk Hall website.

Until 31 January

See the stars with expert stargazers as part of the Astro Dog stargazing event in Dalby Forest, near Pickering.

Events last between two and two-and-a-half hours and cost from £22.50.

For more details, visit the Astro Dog website.

1 February

Malton and Norton Rugby Union Football Club is holding its Ladies Day. The event will include a two-course meal followed by first team rugby. Tickets are £35 with tables of ten available. The event starts at 12.30pm.

For more details visit the Malton Marvels Facebook page.

The Knaresborough Talent Show takes place at the Frazer Theatre where young performers from the local community will take to the stage. The event features a wide range of performances from children aged from four to 11.

The theatre can be found at Frazer Theatre, Knaresborough, HG5 0EQ, and the show starts at 2.30pm.

For more details, visit the Frazer Theatre website.

Animal Allies is a special exhibition opening at the Green Howards Museum, Trinity Church Square, Richmond, DL10 4QN, and will be running throughout the year.

The exhibition will explore the diverse ways in which animals have been integral to military operations, uncovering the remarkable roles that they have played throughout history.

For more information, visit the Green Howards Museum website.

Appearing at Settle Victoria Hall, Brooks Williams and Aaron Catlow bring soaring Trans-Atlantic melodies and bluesy-folk songs to the time-honoured guitar and fiddle tradition.

Tickets are priced at £15.50.

For more details, visit the Settle Victoria Hall website.

4 to 8 February

The award-winning youth theatre group, Crash Bang Wallop, returns to The Forum in Northallerton with an up-beat production of Shrek the Musical.

Based on the well-known animated Dreamworks film of 2001, plus sequels, this parody of fairytales will entertain children and adults alike.

Tickets are priced £16 for adults, £12 for children with concessions costing £12.

For more details, visit the forum’s website.

7 to 9 February

Whitby Steampunk weekend is being held within the Whitby Pavilion.

One of the largest Steampunk events in the UK, there will be a host of activities, presentations and demonstrations lined up as well as the Steampunk Retail Emporium.

Family friendly, and with free entry to events which celebrate the Steampunk trend which is influenced by and often adopts the style of the 19^th century scientific romances of authors such as Jules Verne and HG Wells.

7 February

Skipton Memory Café is a warm and welcoming group for those living with dementia, their families and friends.

Come along to Skipton Library where there will be books, games, jigsaws and refreshments, for a social gathering in the reference library. Everyone is welcome and events take place on the first Friday of every month.

For more details, email Skipton Library via skipton.library@northyorks.gov.uk.

8 February

A Lego show is being held at Thirsk and Sowerby Town Hall. The show is for all ages, with funds raised to support Holy Rood House. The event runs from 10am to 4pm.

The inspiration for Scarborough Symphony Orchestra’s February concert is the popular BBC radio programme 'Friday Night is Music Night'.

Light popular works are featured, with Doreen Carwithen's A Suffolk Suite joining Mendelssohn's overture The Hebrides and George Butterworth's The Banks of Green Willow.

Tickets can be bought from the orchestra's website and Revolutions Music, Huntriss Row, Scarborough, or at the door on the night from 6.15pm. The concert starts at 7.15pm.

For more details, visit the Scarborough Symphony Orchestra website.

11 February

Visit the Dales Countryside Museum for a pop-up session to talk about some weird and wonderful recipes from the archives.

Recipes for tasty traditional favourites, writing ink or poisons and remedies for aches, pains, coughs and colds for humans and animals will be highlighted.

The talk is included in admission to the museum, which can be found at Station Yard in Hawes.

For more details, visit the Yorkshire Dales website.

21 February

Queen By Candlelight comes to Selby Abbey following a run of sell-out shows across the UK. Featuring a cast of West End Singers accompanied by an epic live rock band, visitors will experience the hits written by the world-famous band, Queen.

For more details, visit the Selby Abbey website.

Until 30 March

An exhibition of paintings and graphic novel art by Tim Bird and Sue Bird is being staged at the Mercer Art Gallery, Swan Road in Harrogate.

Adrift on a Painted Sea by Tim is a beautiful and profound graphic novel that explores family, loss, and art through the author’s relationship with his mother, Sue, who painted as a hobby throughout her life.

The exhibition displays a range of paintings by Sue, alongside some artwork from the graphic novel, written by her son after her death to celebrate her art and life. As well as the paintings and artwork from the graphic novel, there will also be a display of sketches and sketchbooks.

For more details, visit our museums and galleries pages.