York Food & Drink Festival

5 hours ago

5 min read

York Food & Drink Festival 2026 – Our Taste Trail Around York

Mick and I visited the York Food & Drink Festival on Sunday 20th September, and with the sun shining we couldn’t really have picked a better day for it.

The festival runs until 27th September, so if you’re looking for something to do in York over the next few days, there is still time to visit.

We had already booked one of the festival’s Taste Trails before we went, so rather than just having a wander around the food stalls, we had a bit of a route to follow as well.

And, as it turned out, that was probably my favourite part of the day.

Getting into York

We decided to drive into York and park in the city centre.

Parking cost us £15.30 for three to four hours, which isn’t cheap, but it suited us for the day because we knew we were only going to be there for a few hours.

If you don’t fancy paying city-centre parking prices, York’s Park & Ride is another option. The current adult return fare is £4, and up to three children aged 16 and under can travel free with each paying adult.

We were lucky with the weather. It was a lovely sunny day, which makes such a difference when you’re spending a few hours walking around York.

York is one of those places where we always seem to notice something different every time we visit.

Our East Taste Trail

There were two Taste Trail options and we chose the East Trail.

The Taste Trails are self-guided walks around York, with participating businesses providing different food and drink samples along the way.

When you collect your trail booklet, it contains information about the businesses taking part, the addresses and a map to help you find your way around.

In theory, the map is all you need.

In practice, we found it much easier just putting each address into Google Maps as we went along!

It meant we could concentrate on enjoying ourselves rather than standing on a street corner trying to decide whether we should have turned left two streets back.

More Than Just the Food

Obviously, a Taste Trail is mainly about the food, and there were plenty of tasty things to try along the way.

But what I really liked was where the trail took us.

Mick and I have been to York plenty of times over the years, but the East Trail took us into parts of the city that we had never had any reason to explore before.

That is something I always enjoy.

You can think you know a town or city quite well and then turn down a street you’ve never walked before and find a completely different side to it.

It is actually very much what we enjoy doing with The White Shire generally — getting away from the obvious places occasionally and seeing what else is around the corner.

If you enjoy discovering Yorkshire in the same way, have a look at our North Yorkshire Walks and our Places to Visit in Yorkshire for more ideas.

Back to the Main Festival

Once we had finished the Taste Trail, there was still plenty happening around the main festival area.

Parliament Street was full of food stalls selling all sorts of things, with producers, street food and different food and drink businesses to wander around.

The main festival also spreads into St Sampson’s Square, so there is plenty to look at even if you don’t book one of the Taste Trails.

You could easily visit just for the main festival, have something to eat, look around the stalls and enjoy York itself.

We had gone specifically for the Taste Trail, though, and I’m glad we did because it gave the day a bit more structure while still letting us explore at our own pace.

The York Food & Drink Festival is also currently listed in our York Food & Drink Festival 2026 event guide, alongside other events happening around Yorkshire.

How Long Did We Spend There?

We were in York for around three hours altogether.

That was enough time for us to complete the trail, have a look around the main festival area and enjoy a wander through the city.

You could very easily make much more of a day of it, though.

Add in a bit of shopping, stop somewhere for a drink, spend longer around the festival stalls or stay for some of the live music and you could turn it into a full afternoon and evening.

If you are planning a trip, it is worth looking at our What’s On This Month in Yorkshire as well, as there may be other events happening nearby that you can combine with your visit.

Would I Do a Taste Trail Again?

Yes, I would.

The food samples were obviously part of the attraction, but for me the best thing was that it gave us a reason to explore streets and parts of York that we hadn’t seen before.

It didn’t feel like we were simply walking from one food stop to another.

We were seeing more of York as we went.

I also liked being able to do it at our own pace. There was no group to keep up with and no set walking speed. We just followed the trail, found each business and carried on when we were ready.

For anyone who enjoys food and fancies seeing a slightly different side of York at the same time, it is a nice way to spend a few hours.

York Food & Drink Festival 2026

The festival continues until Sunday 27th September 2026, so there is still time to go if you fancy it.

We had a lovely afternoon, helped considerably by the sunshine, and the East Taste Trail turned out to be a good way of seeing a bit more of York than we normally would.

Sometimes that is all a good day out needs — somewhere familiar, a different route through it and, in this case, plenty of food along the way.

Visited by Lyn and Mick for The White Shire on Sunday 20th September 2026.

These are the places we visited.

Goldee’s Bagels

https://www.goldeesbagels.co.uk/

Crumbles Desserts

https://shamblesmarket.co.uk/stalls/crumbles-desserts-york/

YUZU Street Food

https://www.yuzustreetfood.com/york-venue

Little Blondie Bakehouse

https://littleblondiebakehouse.co.uk/

Hotel Indigo York