York­shire has nev­er been shy of blow­ing its own trum­pet. “God’s own coun­ty” (coun­try?) and all that, as its cit­i­zens nev­er tire of remind­ing us. So it was fair­ly inevitable that the first stage of the Tour de France hap­pen­ing on God’s own doorstep – Leeds to be more pre­cise – would her­ald an extrav­a­gan­za of cul­tur­al, cre­ative and in some instances slight­ly barmy events.

To add to the heady cel­e­bra­tions, the famous French two-wheel slogfest is now being wel­comed with  – yes – its very own fes­ti­val called King of the Moun­tains. Com­peti­tors will ped­al close by the fes­ti­val site, per­fect­ly posi­tioned for cheer­ing them on, their progress to be chart­ed on big screens on site. Orig­i­nal­ly con­ceived by the vil­lage of Muk­er which is on the cycle trail, this fes­ti­val vision was realised by Leeds com­pa­ny Wilder, and so King of the Moun­tains, with its added ‘pop up’ cachet, came into being. The loca­tion just hap­pens to be a val­ley of scenic per­fec­tion at the foot of But­ter­tubs Pass.

So King of the Moun­tains – this grand vision for the Grand Depart, is set to be a three-day music and arts event, with the actu­al Tour de France pass­ing through Swaledale Val­ley on Sat­ur­day 5th July.

 

Live per­for­mance, cul­ture and food from York­shire and beyond are the orders of the week­end. Head­lin­ing King of the Moun­tains are Dry the Riv­er (pic­tured below), who have just tak­en a year out to record their new album. Also appear­ing are Huw Stephens (DJ) and Paul Thomas Saun­ders. Sky Larkin, To Kill A King, Kyla La Grange. Also Leeds band Post War Glam­our Girls, and Cottonwoolf.

Dry the Riv­er will be head­lin­ing…

York­shire food will a big fea­ture and Gourmet Gigs is hop­ing for those giant York­shire Puds, con­tain­ing a hefty por­tion of roast din­ner and gravy – hope­ful­ly KoTM won’t go too ‘arti­san’ on us and over­look such deli­cious sta­ples. Nat­u­ral­ly there will be some local York­shire Dales ales for sam­pling. This is a fam­i­ly fes­ti­val, so expect plen­ty for chil­dren, plus Tour De Cin­e­ma, camp­ing, cycle and car parks as well as huge screens to watch all the 2‑wheel action. Activ­i­ties include Farm­ing Demon­stra­tions and Sheep Judging.

 

 

 

 

Events lead­ing up to the Tour de France have been inspir­ing and well-sup­port­ed. Take for instance the aston­ish­ing Grand Departs, by iMove Arts and Heb­den Bridge Piano Fes­ti­val, an event which launched the York­shire Fes­ti­val, 100 day cel­e­bra­tion of arts and cul­ture spon­sored by York­shire Water. For this per­for­mance, a  team of cyclists pulled a piano, com­plete with a rotat­ing troupe of pianists play­ing spe­cial­ly com­posed music, up the six miles of Cragg Vale, star­ing at Mytholm­royd in the Calder Val­ley. Large crowds and fair weath­er helped turn the four-hour stren­u­ous piano pulling event into a huge suc­cess, ensur­ing cov­er­age on the BBC news and the One Show. Click here. iMove York­shire also per­formed The Sec­ond Breath in Leeds

 

More recently, another moving performance happened called Ghost Peloton. Taking place in Leeds under cover of darkness, the performance melded cycling and dance, as cyclists travelled the now-deserted grounds of Leeds’ Tetley brewery, their outfits illuminated with coloured lights. It created mesmerising patterns and a magical presence.