York and North Yorkshire reopening day – Live

All good things come to those who wait, and fans of the York Grand Opera House will have to wait a few more weeks for live shows to resume.

Today owners the ATG Group announced they were suspending all live performances in its theatres until  Saturday 26 June 2021.

In a statement the group said: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused but hope you will understand given the exceptional circumstances.

“If you have made a booking that is affected by this suspension, you do not need to do anything. We are currently contacting customers booked for performances up to 26 June 2021.

“Bookings for performances with confirmed rescheduled dates will be automatically moved to the new dates and customers will be informed accordingly.”

The first show listed at the Grand Opera House is Adam Buxton Rambles… which is due to run on Wednesday, 14 July.

Most shows have now been rescheduled. You can see the new dates here.

The Theatre Royal will reopen to indoor performances this evening.

It’s first show – Love Bites – is sold out, which is a very good sign. There are lots of safety measures in place, including socially distanced seating – you can read all the details here.

Chief executive of York Theatre Royal Tom Bird told Ben and Laura on YorkMix Radio how he felt as curtain up finally approached.

“It’s quite emotional, to be honest. We’re giddy, we’re so excited. We’re a little bit nervous.

“In a way, it’s emotional. You never think in your career you’ll have to do what we had to do 14 months ago, and say we’re pulling everyone off stage, and you might not be back in for a while.

“It’s been tough on everyone. It’s been really tough on theatres, because it was immediately clear that lockdowns and the restrictions were going to be difficult for us, but we’re just over over the moon to be back.

“And we just can’t wait for tonight.”

For the comeback, they decided to commission works from “as many artists in York as we possibly could.

“So we went out with this call for love letters to the theatre, or to your partner, or to absolutely anything you want. And said write us a five minute love letter in any format.

“And we’ve commissioned 22 artists in York to come up with love letters for our night tonight, which is Love Bites.”

You can read all about York Theatre Royal’s new season – featuring Ralph Fiennes, Brian Clough, trapeze artists and a brief history of drag – here.

Visitors returned to York Minster today – enjoying the majestic architecture for the first time in months.

Although the cathedral has been open to worshippers for a while, today say it thrown open its doors to the general public again.

Big day for us and most places across the country as we are able to reopen our doors for general visiting.

You can once again experience the vast spaces of York Minster on your trip to @VisitYork.

See you soon ???? pic.twitter.com/rVyMMthQra

— York Minster (@York_Minster) May 17, 2021

These are the opening hours:

Monday – Saturday: 10am to 4.30pm, with last admission at 3.45pm.
Sunday: 12.30pm to 3.15pm, with last admission at 2.30pm.

All sightseeing visits must be booked in advance online.

They also have some exhibitions planned for later in the summer. Find out more here.

The Coppergate Centre in York is fully open again.

While retailers have been reopened for a while, the centre’s attractions – the Jorvik Centre and the new Hole In Wand – have allowed people in, along with the cafes.

Pippa Unwin, manager at the Coppergate Centre, said people were delighted – although: “Everybody is still a little bit nervous.

“We are still meant to be socially distanced. And it does get difficult when people come shopping for social distancing.

“But all of our retailers work really well together. Because York is so heavily a tourist city, and because the tourists and the international trade hasn’t come back yet, we found that social distancing isn’t a problem here.

“Today, now we are fully back as a centre. And we’re really pleased to see that and when do you think it’s going to translate well for businesses, and it’s just a nice feel in the centre.”

Online bookings at both Jorvik and the Hole In Wand have been strong.

Andrew Lowson, executive director of the York BID (Business Improvement District), has been talking to YorkMix about the reopening.

He said: “I think everyone’s excited. Hospitality, it makes a big difference for them being able to actually have their indoor facilities open – because much as we like to do al fresco in this country, and we’ve embraced it more, as we know the British weather isn’t always conducive to that.

“Having the indoor capacity will make a big difference. Retail will really appreciate it as well people come into a city like York to shop, then have a cup of tea, have a meal.

“I think a lot of people now will be seeing this as a date where hopefully, we can get back to to normal, or the new normal.”

He said York needs domestic tourism to do well, with the continued restrictions on international travel.

York’s ‘experience economy’ – boosted today by the opening of the Hole In Wand, which he described as ‘a great addition to the city’ – was crucial to bringing people in.

Castle Howard fully reopens today at 10am – and they’re are ready for Bridgerton fans!

It is a chance for fans of the Netflix drama, which has been streamed more than 84 million times around the world, to see the ‘real’ Clyvedon Castle.

There’s a new exhibition inspired by the hit, and tour guides are ready to point visitors to the various locations used in the series.

Read the full story about that here.

Abbi Ollive of Castle Howard, told YorkMix Radio this morning that they are ready to welcome visitors back inside: “There’s a great sense of excitement and anticipation that we can once again open the doors to some of these really special places including Castle Howard.

“So there’s been a lot of work that’s going on behind the scenes, as you can imagine.

“The house has been closed for several months. We’ve taken that opportunity to do some well needed conservation and restoration of the building.

“And we’ve been tinkering away inside, getting the house and the rooms all ready for visitors to once again flood through the doors – in a very managed way.”

You can book online here.

It’s stage three of the road map to reopening – and it’s a biggie.

Here are all the things we can do from today (Monday, 17 May):

People can meet outdoors in groups of up to 30, and indoors in groups of six, or two households.

Pubs and restaurants will be able to serve customers indoors, although they will be limited to table service.

Other recreational venues such as cinemas, museums, theatres and concert halls will be allowed to reopen. although there will be capacity limits on large events.

Up to 30 people will be allowed at weddings, although dancing will still not be allowed, and the cap on the number of mourners attending funerals will be lifted, in line with the safe capacity of the venue.

Secondary school pupils will no longer be told to wear face masks in class and communal areas, and university students will return to campus for in-person lectures.

The “stay in the UK” restriction will lift and people will be able to travel to “green list” countries without having to quarantine, provided they take one post-arrival test.