Crowds flocked to Bishop Auckland as its annual Harvest Festival returned with food, entertainment and family activities.
Auckland Palace hosted the two-day celebration on Saturday, September 26, and Sunday, September 27, with free activities across its grounds.
The show featured entries including fruit, vegetables, home baking and other home-grown and homemade produce.
Harvest festival at Auckland Palace (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
The festival celebrated what people grow, make and share, from traditional produce displays to live entertainment.
At the heart of the festival was the Bishop Auckland Horticultural & Produce Show, where local growers, bakers and makers were able to put their skills to the test.
Harvest festival at Auckland Palace (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
Young growers competed in the new Plot to Plate: Potato Pot Luck competition.
Children who planted heritage potatoes during the Bishop Auckland Food Festival earlier in the year were invited to bring back their crops to be judged, connecting two of the town’s major events.
Harvest festival at Auckland Palace (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
There was plenty to keep families entertained elsewhere in the grounds, with the return of the Growlympic Games.
Visitors tackled countryside challenges including welly wanging, harvest-crown making and apple pressing, alongside traditional fairground games.
Harvest festival at Auckland Palace (Image: NORTHERN ECHO)
Live music and roaming performers kept the festival lively throughout the weekend.
The Ran Tanners played Georgian and Victorian music, while the Fairly Famous Family appeared as giant comedy gardeners performing wheelbarrow tricks, lawn games, fruit juggling and vegetable cookery.
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Peter Rabbit also appeared for younger visitors.
Saturday’s programme was part of the wider Bishop Auckland Heritage Festival, which explored the town’s history and heritage alongside the harvest celebrations.
Visitors could also enjoy pizzas, fresh bread, pies, doughnuts and other sweet treats from the Farm Shop.
The Harvest Festival is part of Hearth, a community regeneration programme run with The Auckland Project and supported by SHED.