THOUSANDS of cycling fans and canal enthusiasts are set to bring a big boost to Skipton as it plays host to two major events over one Bank Holiday weekend.

The town is gearing up for the arrival of some of the top cyclists in the world in the Tour de Yorkshire, which is racing through south Craven on Sunday, April 30.

And their arrival coincides with the second day of the three-day Skipton Waterway Festival, on April 29, 30 and May 1 - which this year features Paw Patrol mascots.

The cyclists will be racing through Skipton on the third and final stage of the Tour, which starts on the Sunday in Bradford and finishes more than 190 kilometres later at Fox Valley, Sheffield.

The previous two stages are from Bridlington to Scarborough on the Friday, and Tadcaster to Harrogate on the Saturday.

And the race will be entering the outskirts of Craven on the Sunday when it it is scheduled to arrive, depending on the speed of the race, at Addingham at approximately 12.55pm.

Riders are expected to race through Bolton Abbey at 1.04pm, then Barden, Burnsall, Linton, Cracoe, Rylstone, Skipton at 1.40pm, Farnhill and Kildwick, and moving into West Yorkshire via Silsden just before 2pm.

Organisers of the Waterway Festival say they will be calling a temporary halt to the live entertainment at the Skipton canal basin for about 30 minutes to enable festival-goers see the the Tour riders come through.

This year's Waterway Festival is the 16th, and will be opened by the Mayor of Skipton, Cllr Martin Emmerson.

It is again being organised by Pennine Cruisers, and the company's Zoe Clarke is again one of the organisers, after taking a break last year on maternity leave.

She said: "It's great news for Skipton to have two major events taking place on the Sunday, and we can promise the usual excellent line-up of live entertainment at the canal basin over the three days of the Waterway Festival, as well as the full range of canal trips.

"And children are sure to be excited by the arrival of the mascots from Paw Patrol, which is one of the the most popular programmes on television for the younger are group.

"There were an estimated 10,000 visitors to the festival last year, when the weather was very mixed.

"So with the Tour in town as well we are very much hoping that, with some decent weather, this can be a record-breaking year."