A HOST of activities – including a parade – is planned as Keighley prepares to take centre stage on Yorkshire Day.

The town has been chosen to hold the official Yorkshire Day civic celebration for the first time since the annual event – which takes place on August 1 – began in 1985.

And this year marks the event's post-pandemic return.

Keighley Town Council said it was "deeply honoured" to be selected to host the celebrations.

It is organising a packed programme, in conjunction with the Yorkshire Society.

Family attractions will be on offer across the town, over three days.

Activities will begin on Saturday, July 30, when the Yorkshire Dialect Society stages an event in Keighley Library.

Celebrating the Yorkshire Dialect will include keynote speakers, readings and recitations of poems and prose.

There will also be an exhibition about Keighley's renowned local historian Dr Ian Dewhirst, who died in 2019.

Tickets for the event, which will run from 10.30am to 4.30pm, are available priced £5 at theyorkshiresociety.org/event/celebrating-the-yorkshire-dialect.

On the Sunday, July 31, between 10am and 4pm, there will be inflatables and other children's attractions at Church Green – run by Bradford Community Play and Development Service.

That day and on Yorkshire Day itself there will also be an artisan market, staged by RSH Markets, on the Church Green car park; locally-based organisations and charities will showcase their work, and there will be live entertainment, in Town Hall Square; and entertainment is on offer in the Airedale Shopping Centre.

On Yorkshire Day, Keighley Creative will be at Church Green, with a Yorkshire rose workshop.

The Livery Rooms will host children's activities, face painting, stalls and a barbecue.

And there will be a parade featuring mayors from across Yorkshire, VIP guests and Yorkshire Society members.

The procession – led by the Yorkshire Regiment Corps of Drums – will leave Sainsbury's car park at 10.30am, then head up Cavendish Street and along North Street to Keighley Shared Church.

"We would love to see as many people as possible lining the streets and waving their Yorkshire flags!" said a town council spokesperson.

"We'd like to thank all the groups, businesses and organisations that have come together to help put on a fantastic event line up."

For more about the activities and updates, visit the Keighley Town Council Facebook page.