GRASSINGTON Festival will celebrate people and places later this month.

The festival will get off to a swinging start Friday, June 15, with Electro Swing dance band Swing Zazou and swing quintet Zoot Zazou in the Festival Hall.

For its 38th year, the central concept of Grassington Festival is A Sense of Belonging. This includes This Must Be The Place, commissioned for Grassington Festival in association with Great Place Lakes and Dales – a pilot for a national piece of work about place and location and people.

As usual the festival brings a stacked programme of art, theatre, music, comedy, talks, exhibitions, guided walks, literature and creative workshops. Many acts this year have ties to the local area and the wider Yorkshire region.

There will be an opportunity to catch An Evening with Sir Michael Parkinson, telling of his remarkable journey from a pit village in Yorkshire to the top of those famous stairs.

A couple of days later, Bradford band Smokie take time out of their epic European tour to grace the Festival in the Field Marquee stage. The band plays sell out tours around the globe and have sold over 25 million albums worldwide.

Grassington-born BBC political correspondent Chris Mason will be joined by MP Tracy Brabin for an evening of conversation in the Festival Hall, and Chris Simpson of Magna Carta fame will bring music and stories from his latest book The Visitor, narrated by former Grassington doctor, Andrew Jackson.

There are many free events at this year’s festival; including the opening procession on Saturday, June 16. The following day, a Father’s Day treat could be a visit to the Food Festival, with demonstrations from top chefs, including Alexander’s executive head chef, Struan Macintyre, and stalls from The Courtyard Dairy and crêpes from The Flip Side, to name but a couple.

For those who like classical music, there will be a gala concert by Skipton Building Society Camerata, who will perform a programme of Mozart in Bolton Abbey Priory.

Voices of Craven, featuring soprano Sarah Fox, will perform a special concert centred around A Sense of Belonging.

The festival fortnight finishes with a double whammy. Friday Night’s Party Night will include a concert by British Electric Foundation, featuring Martyn Ware, Peter Hook, Peter Hooton, Glen Matlock, Jaki Graham, Mari Wilson and Glenn Gregory.

Then on the Saturday will be the first ever Festival in the Field Day, with local bands The Scene, Chill Pill, The Diamond Soul Band and ISSIMO, breakthrough acts Sam Kelly and the Lost Boys, Coco and the Butterfields and Bella and Polly, topped off by indie-rock icons The Fratellis.

Festival director Kate Beard said: “As an arts charity, none of this would be possible without our sponsors, local volunteers and Festival Friends. Their contribution to the festival secures its future, enabling this amazing event to continue in the Dales.”

Tickets are still available for some events, including Festival in the Field Marquee events. To check availability and to book tickets, visit grassington-festival.org.uk or call the box office on 01756 752691.

Festival events are as follows (in Grassington unless stated otherwise):

Pre-festival workshops:

Opening procession puppet making, 1pm-4pm Saturday and Sunday, Grassington Primary School

Samba Workshops 10am-12.30pm Sunday, Grassington Primary School

Exhibitions running throughout:

Wildflower Meadow, June 15-30, The Square

The Land – Layers Through Time, 2pm-5pm (opening) June 16 and then 10.30am-5pm, June 17 to September 2, The Wishbone Gallery and The Folk Museum

Open Studios – A Sense of Belonging, June 16-July 1, various places around Grassington

Friday, June 15

The Octagon - Me and My Bee, 6pm

Festival Hall – Swing Zazou and Zoot Zazou, 8pm

Saturday, June 16

Fell Grange Farm, Burnsall - Dry Stone Walling (beginners), 10am-3.30pm

Festival in the Square, 11am-4pm

Family Meadow Walk, Grassington National Park Centre, 2pm-4pm

The Octagon – The Greatest Showman, 5pm

Festival Hall – Noble Jacks and Huw Eddy and the Carnival, 8pm

Sunday, June 17

The Square - Food Festival, 10am-3.30pm

Festival Hall – Festival Service, 10am

Bolton Abbey Priory Church – Gala Concert, 8pm

Monday, June 18

The Octagon – Liverpool Cowkeepers, 11am

The Square – Moth Magic, 9.30pm

Gamekeepers Inn, Threshfield – Niamh, 8pm

Tuesday, June 19

Games Room, Festival Hall – Moth Magic Printing, 11am-4pm

The Square – Festival Picnic with Gudrun’s Sisters, 1pm-2pm

Archaeology of Lea Green Guided Walk, 1pm-4pm

Scargill House, Kettlewell – Peter Ryder and Helen Brocklehurst, 7.30pm

Skipton Town Hall – Kathryn Stott, 7.30pm

The Octagon – Chris Simpson’s The Visitor, 8pm

Wednesday, June 20

The Square – Festival Picnic with Callum Spencer, 1pm-2pm

Festival Hall – Putting The Band Back Together, 8pm

Devonshire Arms – King B’s, 9pm

Thursday, June 21

The Square – Festival Picnic with Dead Man’s Uke, 1pm-2pm

Stump Cross Caverns – Beneath Our Feet, 5pm/6pm/7pm

Gamekeepers Inn, Threshfield – Gin Festival, 4pm-8pm

Festival Hall – An Evening With Chris Mason and special quest MP Tracy Brabin, 8pm

Foresters Arms – Overload, 9pm

Friday, June 22

Ladies Room, Festival Hall – Made With Music Tuneful Tots, 10.30am

The Octagon – Hanneke Dye, Born A Hidden Child, 11am

The Square – Festival Picnic with Rum Doodle, 1pm-2pm

Stump Cross Caverns – Beneath Our Feet, 5pm/6pm/7pm

Festival Hall – The Joe Stilgoe Trio, 8pm

Saturday, June 23

Festival In The Square, 11am-7pm

Fell Grange Farm, Burnsall – Dry Stone Walling (intermediate), 10am-3.30pm

Festival Hall – Shadow Puppetry and Animation, noon-4pm

Stump Cross Caverns – Beneath Our Feet, 5pm/6pm/7pm

Methodist Church, Grassington – Tunstill’s Men, 4pm

St Michael the Archangel Church, Kirkby Malham – Voices of Craven, 7pm

Live at the Festival Hall (Comedy Night), 8pm

Sunday, June 24

Stories in the Square, 11am-2pm

The Octagon – A Strange New Space, 2.30pm

Church House – Grassington Embroiders’ Guild ‘Pearl and Passion’, 10am-3pm

Congregational Church, Grassington – Raven, 2pm

Scargill House, Kettlewell – Benyounes Quartet, 4pm

The Octagon – #Storytime: Joanne Harris, 8pm

Congregational Church, Grassington – JazzLyrical, 8pm

Monday, June 25

Church House – Grassington Embroiders’ Guild ‘Pearl and Passion’, 10am-3pm

Festival in the Field Marquee – An Evening With Sir Michael Parkinson, 8pm

Tuesday, June 26

Festival Hall – SWARM: A Creation of Many Hands by Laney Birkhead, 12pm-4pm

Games Room Festival Hall – Food For Thought with Laney Birkhead, 1pm

Festival in the Field Marquee – Jason Manford, 8pm

Wednesday, June 27

Festival Hall – SWARM: A Creation of Many Hands by Laney Birkhead, 12pm-4pm

Games Room Festival Hall – Food For Thought with Chris Clark and Neil Heseltine, 1pm

Festival in the Field Marquee – Smokie, 8pm

Thursday, June 28

The Courtyard Dairy, Austwick – Cheese Making with Andy Swinscoe – 9.30am-3pm

Games Room Festival Hall – Food For Thought with Joanna Mahler, 1pm

Craven Arms, Appletreewick – The Moonbeams, 7.30pm

Friday, June 29

Ladies Room, Festival Hall – Made With Music Tuneful Tots, 10.30am

Festival Hall – SWARM: A Creation of Many Hands by Laney Birkhead, noon-4pm

Festival in the Field Marquee – Friday Night’s Party Night with British Electric Foundation and special guests plus DJ, 8pm

Saturday, June 30

Festival in the Field Day – The Fratellis and entertainment for all the family, noon-11pm