Stroll around Settle during the summer months and be amazed, amused, entertained, astounded & astonished by the wonderful flowerpot displays decorating the lovely town. Settle Flower Pot Festival is NOT to be missed!
Settle is set in beautiful Upper Ribblesdale on the edge of the glorious Yorkshire Dales – it’s definitely a place you don’t want to pass on by! It’s a bustling little market town with so much to do in and around it that you could easily spend a whole day or possibly even longer and you still wouldn’t run out of things to do.
Summer In Settle
During the Summer months, residents of many Yorkshire Dales towns and villages put on events to make visitors smile and encourage them to stay a little longer, enjoying the local cafes, pubs and shops.
Settle’s idea is a little quirkier than most and usually takes place throughout July and August. However, this year it’s running during the months of August and September, due to the coronavirus situation. It’s definitely one of the best times to plan a visit to Settle so that you can see the wonderful Settle Flower Pot Festival – an event for the whole family!
This is when the local population gets extremely creative and decorated flower pots start to pop up all over Settle. No-one knows where, exactly when or even what the many participating businesses and residents will create, apart from the fact that they’ll all be made out of flower pots. Each year the level of creativity increases, with Settle residents seemingly trying to outdo each other with their imagination and flower pot engineering talents.
Get there nice and early to find a parking spot before you begin your trek around the town to discover all of the funny, quirky, clever and oftentimes surprising flower pot designs. Make sure you check carefully – some are pretty obvious, others are more subtle, even in plain view.
Who will find the most – you or the kids? They will definitely thank you for this day out I can assure you!
Flower Pot Festival Trails
To make sure you get to see most of the wonderful flower pot designs I recommend you purchase one of the Flower Pot Trails & Quiz which can be bought from several different places in town.
There are three trails covering different parts of the town. Each trail costs £2.00 and will take approx 2 hours to complete. Each of them has around 50 varied educational and entertaining questions aimed at all ages, relating to the flower pot creations, so lots of extra fun to be had.
You can find many of the creations just wandering around the town, but it’s worth buying the trail leaflets to be sure you don’t miss any of them, as the trail expands every year and many will be off the beaten track.
All the trails are suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs although there are some steepish slopes to negotiate on each trail. No excuse not to exercise then!
Trails Can Be Purchased From –
Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat 9am – 2.30pm
The Golden Lion
Mon – Sun 9am – 11pm
Wholesome Bee
Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm
Sat 9am – 3pm
The House That Jack Built
Mon – Sat 10am – 5pm
Cottontail Crafts
Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat 9.30am – 4pm
Parking For Flower Pot Festival
Just in case you’re not able to get there early enough to find a parking spot in the centre of town, there are 3 Pay & Display car parks within a short walking distance of the town centre.
- Ashfield - BD24 9AA
- Whitefriars - BD24 9JD
- Greenfoot - BD24 9RB
After Your Trek Around Settle
Once you’ve completed your trek around town (and taken plenty of photos for your memories) then I’m pretty sure you’ll be ready for some refreshments. There are plenty of places in the town centre itself where you’ll be able to find something to eat and drink.
Once everyone has refuelled, so to speak, and if you have time, there’s plenty to do around Settle itself. Just check out the link below to discover even more wonderful opportunities around this lovely little town.
I will have to write another blog post (or maybe even 2 or 3) about those things later – keep your eyes peeled for those posts on my blog won’t you?
Have you ever been to the Settle Flower Pot Festival? Which is your favourite creation from my photos? I think mine would definitely have to be the bumblebee!
If you’ve never been to this festival before, then I urge you to hurry up and pop along to check it out before it ends on September 30th. Or….you could always go another year?!?
Useful Link
