Journal · Topic
18 posts
Plan a day
November 2026 in Thirsk: two bonfire nights, Remembrance weekend at the Ritz and Rural Arts, the artisan market on the square, a Christmas cookery night in the Town Hall, and the lights on the 27th.
Plan a day
Thirsk's Christmas lights switch-on on the Market Place, listed for Friday 27 November at 6.30pm, with the Christmas Fair in the Town Hall that weekend. What we know so far.
Afternoon tea
Gift vouchers from Tea Time, the cafe on Thirsk market square: afternoon tea, brunch, lunch or coffee and cake, ordered by phone or contact form, posted with a handwritten note or emailed as a code.
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Jump racing at Wetherby and Catterick, pantomimes in York and Richmond, Glow at Harlow Carr and a New Year's Day walk up Sutton Bank: Christmas to New Year near Thirsk.
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Apple Week at Ampleforth, trick or treat on the Moors Railway, pumpkins in Castle Howard and re-enactors at Fountains: October half term within an hour of Thirsk.
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Five firework displays within half an hour of Thirsk this year: Monk Park Farm and Northallerton on Thursday 5 November, Burtree, Bedale and Masham on Saturday 7 November.
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Christmas markets, a pantomime at the Town Hall, Santa at Thorp Perrow and carols at Fountains, from mid-November to Christmas Eve, all within forty minutes of Thirsk.
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Half term runs 26 to 30 October and Halloween is the Saturday after: Rural Arts workshops, Shaun the Sheep at the Ritz, pumpkins and a Halloween trail.
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Six places to spend a wet day in Thirsk, all within five minutes of the square, and which of them are open on each day of the week, Sunday and Monday included.
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Herriot Hospice's first Moonlight Glow Walk sets off from Thirsk Racecourse on Saturday 3 October: a 5k after dark through the centre of town and back, glow sticks encouraged.
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The Great Yorkshire Pumpkin Festival at Monk Park Farm, ten minutes from the square: which days, which ticket, what happens in the rain, and the two kinds of evening.
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A quiet woodland path twelve minutes from Thirsk market square, where a stream crosses under you again and again. Free, short, and most walkers turn back before it.
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The A170 up Sutton Bank reopened on Sunday 4 October after its three-week maintenance closure, so the White Horse and the view are back as a short drive from Thirsk.
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Thirsk Racecourse runs family days through the summer. How to spend the morning at the real Skeldale House, four minutes from our door, then walk down for the racing.
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The original twenty blue plaques, the new James Herriot plaque in Sowerby, and six stories worth stopping for on a walk from Thirsk Market Place.
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Thirsk is Darrowby. An hour-by-hour day around Alf Wight's town, from the real Skeldale House to the church where he married, planned from our door.
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Thirsk market has run on the cobbles since 1145. A local's guide to Mondays and Saturdays, from the early breakfast to the charity shop trail.
Plan a day
Rosa's 2023 guide to a Thirsk holiday - Sutton Bank, the World of James Herriot, the racecourse, the markets and the independent shops.