Festivals to mark Yorkshire’s rhubarb and Viking past
The week ahead brings the first ever World Restaurant Awards, a military homecoming parade, Viking festival and a flypast tribute. Laura Drysdale reports.
The inaugural World Restaurant Awards will take place in Paris today to celebrate the diversity of the international food scene.
They will be awarded in categories including atmosphere of the year, ethical thinking, enduring classics, off-map destination and Instagram account of the year.
The awards were created by IMG, the company behind Taste events and The Big Feastival in partnership with Joe Warwick, co-founder of ‘The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ and restaurant writer and food critic Andrea Petrini.
CONFERENCE
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Business Secretary Greg Clark are expected to be among speakers at the annual EEF manufacturers conference in the capital tomorrow.
Bringing together industry leaders and policy makers, this year’s event, according to organisers, is an opportunity for those in attendance to ensure they are business ready post-Brexit but will also explore issues including the digital future and a sustainable steel industry.
STATISTICS
Look out for two releases on Tuesday. The Office for National Statistics plans to publish unemployment figures and details of average earnings, giving an insight into the country’s labour market.
Meanwhile, trade association UK Finance is expected to publish an update on mortgage trends, shedding light on the housing market, first-timebuyers and borrowing.
ROYALS
The Prince of Wales will present campaign medals to the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in Woking on Tuesday, whilst the Duchess of Cornwall will attend the final day of London Fashion Week to present the Queen Elizabeth II Award for Design on behalf of the Queen.
The following day, the Welsh Guards, a senior infantry regiment which marked its centenary in 2015, will hold a homecoming parade in Cardiff to celebrate their return from deployment to Afghanistan.
VIKINGS
Wednesday will see the start of the 35th JORVIK Viking Festival in York. The largest event of its kind in Europe, the annual week-long festival celebrates the city’s rich Norse heritage.
Expect living history encampments, walks, talks, tours and dramatic combat performances, as well as a best beard competition and the strongest Viking championships.
This year’s theme is the untold story of women in the Viking age.
RHUBARB
That’s not the only aspect of the region’s heritage that will be celebrated this week.
In Wakefield, the three-day annual Festival of Food, Drink and Rhubarb will get under way on Friday.
The city centre will include a festival market and a demonstration tent which will host guests including Great British Bake Off contestant Karen Wright, Eat Well For Less’s Chris Bavin and Katie Rushworth from Love Your Garden. The city is part of Yorkshire’s Rhubarb Triangle.
TRIBUTE
In Sheffield, a flypast will pay tribute to ten airmen, 75 years after they will killed in a plane crash at Endcliffe Park in the city.
Pensioner Tony Foulds has spent much of his life tending to a memorial to the men after witnessing the crash on February 22, 1944.
A campaign for a flypast began after Mr Foulds told BBC presenter Dan Walker he hoped it could be organised for the anniversary. On Friday, military aircraft will take to the skies and a memorial service will also take place.