Eden Valley Events: What's on in Eden Valley, its towns and villages.

There's plenty of things to do in Eden Valley. From river walks to strolls through ancient town's and villages.

At its popular local markets you'll find find locally grown food and a wide selection of crafts for sale from Eden Valley's artisans. 

There's always an exhibition to see and many popular annual events throughout the year somewhere in Eden Valley..

More Eden Valley events to come ... Tweet yours using #edenvalleyevents

Eden Valley Epic Cycle

The Eden Valley Epic Cycle Sportive is held each March. Starting in Penrith, the route is 60 miles through the undulating and beautiful Eden Valley. One thing you’ll notice is the lack of cars, which makes it perfect cycling country. There’s a well stocked food stop in Appleby which will help you refuel for the final miles.

Appleby Classic Car Tour

Classic cars congregate in the grounds of Appleby Castle, a magnificent combination of classic designs and architecture. Details of the next tour held in May can be found on the Appleby Classic Car Tour website hosted by Appleby Rotary Club.

Cumbria Easter Rally

The Cumbria Easter Rally has about 250 examples of commercial working vehicles from the last century displayed at seven locations around Kirkby Stephen.

The rally has grown to be one of the largest and most successful commercial vehicle rallies in the country and attracts entries from as far afield as Aberdeen, London, South Wales and Cornwall.

Orton Scarecrow Festival

The May Bank Holiday scarecrow festival attracts thousands of visitors. Scarecrows are displayed in the church and dotted around Orton for this popular annual festival.

Appleby Harness Racing

Appleby Harness Racing takes place at a beautiful location in the banks of the River Eden at Holme Farm. The fixture  is organised by The British Harness Club each spring in late May.

Appleby Horse Fair

A colourful spectacle that has its origins from around 1685. It's a major cultural gathering for travelling people and attracts huge numbers of visitors to the town who come to experience the horse sales and the traditional washing of horses in the Eden river.

The fair is a long weekend event held on the first weekend in June. More details on Appleby Fair's website.

Warcop Rushbearing

Rush-strewing festivals were once common in churches countrywide to replace the floor rushes with clean new ones for the summer. Few survive but Warcop is one of the places which still has a Rushbearing. The children walk wearing colourful floral crowns and carry rush crosses, accompanied to church by music and banners.

Eden Valley Fun Run

For a great day out for all the family Eden Valley Fun Run and Appleby Rotary 10k is held each June starting at Appleby Sports Hall, Battlebarrow, Appleby.

Appleby Carnival

The town chooses a theme each year and processes through the town each July and gather on the castle ground where the day is spent playing games and socialising into the late evening with music and dance. More details can be found on the Appleby Carnival Facebook page.

Appleby Agricultural Show

The Appleby Agricultural Society, which was established in 1841, hosts the annual Appleby Agricultural Show each August. Amongst the agricultural attractions the show  includes Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestling, Horse Jumping and Terrier Racing. Details about the event can be found on the Appleby Agricultural Show website.

Dufton Agricultural Show

Dufton Agricultural Show was established in 1864 and has been an integral part of the Agricultural calendar for over 100 years.

Appleby's Apple Day

Appleby's Apple Day is held each October. Locals bring their apples to Boroughgate to have them juiced and to get advice from the town's apple experts.

Appleby Sparkle Day

Appleby's Sparkle Day welcomes the beginning of the festive season to Appleby around the end of November. It's when you might bump in to a reindeer and Father Christmas and other festive surprises. It's when the town officially turns on the Christmas lights that stretch from the river bank to the top of Boroughgate.

Boroughgate Market

Appleby's small, friendly market is held each Saturday in the picturesque Boroughgate. Stalls offer fruit and vegetables, baking, fresh fish, household linens and books; with extra stallholders attending during the summer.

Chapel Street's Hubcraft

Hubcraft is hosted by Appleby Hub, an indoor craft market that spills out onto Chapel Street in the summer months. The market sells arts, crafts and local produce on the last Saturday of every month. Hubcraft is held on the last Saturday of every month.

Brough Farmers' Market is held on the third Saturday of every month, in the Memorial Hall in Brough. It is almost unique among Farmers' markets in that it is entirely under cover and thus protected from the weather.

The grant of a market charter to Kirkby Stephen in 1353 was a significant step in the development of the small agricultural hamlet into a market centre of traders and craftsmen as well as farmers. Kirkby Stephen Market has been held every Monday (7am to 6pm) since the reaffirmation of the market's charter in 1605, when market day was changed from Friday to Monday.

At Orton Farmers' Market over 25 local farmers, growers, producers & artisan craftsmen offer a tremendous variety of high quality and speciality local produce and crafts. The market is held on the second Saturday of the month.

Penrith Farmers' Market is held on the third Tuesday of every month, from March to December, from 9.30am to 2.30pm.

The market offers a wide selection of local specialities, seasonal produce and crafts in  the heart of the town. The stallholders, a number of whom are award-winning producers offer a wealth of food knowledge and recipes for their produce.

Walking into the courtyard of St. Anne’s Hospital through the stone arch facing Boroughgate is like stepping back in time. The residents still keep to the spirit of the rules established over 350 years ago. The courtyard and gardens are open to visitors.

In the 17th Century Appleby Castle was the preferred residence of Lady Anne Clifford, known for her many letters and diaries. The castle has a cafe and beautiful grounds to walk in. Guided tours of Appleby Castle are available.

Appleby has a lovely walk that takes you along the banks of the Eden River past some of Appleby's ancient and industrial architecture. You can find these walks, ranging from a relaxing 1.2 miles to bracing 3.8 miles, on this website at Appleby Walks.

Most of Appleby's shops and cafes are found between Appleby's bridge over the Eden and its ancient market area, between High and Low Cross, on Boroughgate. But there are also some not so easily found places tucked away on High and Low Wiend and hidden in once private courtyards.

Find Appleby's Shops and Cafes and see what's available on Appleby's High Street.

Group Visits to Appleby's 16th century Moot Hall can be arranged with Appleby TIC. The former Town Mayor gives a 45min talk about the history of the Moot and the town.

The lower part of St. Lawrence's tower dates from about 1150. The south porch is from the 13th century, and the body of the church dates from the 14th and 15th centuries.

About a 5 minute drive from Appleby is Rutter Force, a horseshoe shaped waterfall on Hoff Beck. It is one of the most scenic and easily accessible waterfall in Eden Valley. The earliest record of the mill at Rutter Force is in 1579 when the waterfall was used to power the corn mill.

Dufton Pike stands at a height of 1,578ft (480m) and seen from Dufton, the village below, it appears to be quite a challenging walk. The village has a lively traditional pub, The Stag Inn, where you can sit beside an open fire with a drink while you pluck up courage to climb the pike.

High Cup Nick has mesmerizing views of the impressive glaciated valley of High Cup Gill. It is one of the highlights of the Pennine Way and was described by Wainwright as an ‘unforgettable sight’ and ‘natural wonder’. It stands impressively above Dufton Village, a short drive from Appleby.

Nine massive late-medieval cairns each standing several metres high making it hard to notice anything else while on the site.

The oldest known record of Nine Standards is from a 1617 court document at Brough with an annotation in the margin referring to a copy of an earlier document from 1507. It can therefore be assumed that the 1507 version also listed the Nine Standards.

Flakebridge Wood is one of the best places in Cumbria to see vast swathes of bluebells. The woods are a bit less than 3 miles from Appleby, about 10 minutes in the car. The woods are at their most vibrant blue in early May.

Lakeland Bird of Prey Centre keeps a collection of Hawks, Falcons, Vultures, Eagles and Owls from around the world on show in their walled garden. There are daily flying display between 2pm and 4pm when visitors can take a turn at flying a bird of prey themselves.

In a picturesque setting beside the crossing of the River Eamont, Brougham Castle was founded in the early 13th century. The castle's great keep survives as well as the unusual double gatehouse and impressive 'Tower of League'. Both a formidable barrier against Scots invaders. The castle welcomed Edward I in 1300. The top of the keep provides panoramic views over the beautiful Eden Valley.

The Greystoke Castle Estate lies five miles west of Penrith on the north-eastern side of the Lake District National Park.

The Estate covers three thousand acres and was traditionally a sporting estate and deer park. Much of the ten feet high dry-stone deer wall survives to this day.
The castle itself dates back almost a thousand years although, having been largely destroyed by Oliver Cromwell and latterly badly damaged by fire, much of the interior is early Victorian.