With over 250,000 people having visited BBC Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace since 2016, the event linked to the BBC’s flagship rural affairs programme has announced a second venue for 2019. Castle Howard, near York, will host the first Countryfile Live event to be held in the North, taking place from 15 – 18 August 2019.

The Hon. Nicholas Howard of Castle Howard is delighted to be opening up the grounds to Countryfile Live visitors. “Countryfile Live celebrates the great outdoors, and with 10,000 acres in the estate and unrivalled views across the Howardian Hills – an area of outstanding natural beauty – we’re very much looking forward to sharing this with Countryfile Live visitors. Many people know the Castle Howard estate for the house, but this is a working estate with forestry and agriculture, so many of the talks and attractions are close to our hearts. Anything which fosters a greater awareness of the countryside gets the thumbs-up from me.” 

Producers of the show are hoping that they will be able to reach an even wider audience of Countryfile fans by staging a second show, a fortnight after the Blenheim Palace event, at one of the North’s most prestigious historic estates. Executive Producer, Bill Lyons says, “With viewers of the programme based up and down the country, it has always been a hope of BBC Studios to share the experience of Countryfile Live in a different part of the UK. The team are very excited that the event will be taking place at two locations in 2019.” 

The event will embrace and celebrate its new Yorkshire setting, featuring new exhibits that capture the essence of the Yorkshire countryside, in the county where presenter John Craven got his first break as a reporter on the Harrogate Advertiser. 

Castle Howard’s Chief Executive Officer, John Hoy, believes that this is a unique opportunity for rural tourism in Ryedale: “This part of North Yorkshire is quite a remarkable destination, and we hope that visitors to Countryfile Live will take the opportunity to stay a little longer to explore- whether in our caravan and camping facilities, local holiday lets or outstanding guesthouses and hotels nearby. Within the estate itself, we have miles of footpaths and cycle routes, and we’re just a stone’s throw from York and Malton, the food capital of Yorkshire, where you can find fresh local produce every day.” 

Castle Howard, widely recognised as ‘Brideshead’ in adaptions of the Evelyn Waugh novel, will host many of the much-loved Countryfile Live attractions on its 1000 acre site including Passion for British Livestock, the Wildlife Zone and most importantly, The Craven Arms. 

Since 2016, over a quarter of a million people have visited Countryfile Live at Blenheim Palace, with numbers reaching to nearly 35,000 daily. Organisers hope to grow the Yorkshire-based event to reach similar numbers over the next few years. 

“We are well accustomed to having large numbers of people here at Castle Howard – our own Castle Howard Proms brings thousands of music fans every August, and with this year’s event headlined by Lesley Garrett, we’re confident of a busy evening, followed in quick succession the following evening by UB40, featuring Ali Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue, supported by Aswad,” adds John Hoy. “Countryfile Live will, without doubt, be one of the largest events in Yorkshire next year.”

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