Rhubarb Festival

Car Parking

There are numerous off-street and on-street car parking spaces in Wakefield City Centre.

Find a full list with details here.

There is also parking available at Trinity Walk and The Riding Shopping Centre.

Bus

Wakefield Bus Station 

It is an approximately 7 minute walk from Wakefield Bus Station to the Cathedral Precinct.

You can find more information about bus services to Wakefield on the Arriva website here.

Train

Wakefield Westgate Station

It is an approximately 9 minute walk from Wakefield Westgate Train Station to the Cathedral Precinct.

You can find station details here.

Wakefield Kirkgate Station

It is an approximately 11 minute walk from Wakefield Kirkgate Train Station to the Cathedral Precinct.

You can find station details here.

The Events Team at Wakefield Council are passionate about providing an enjoyable experience that is accessible to all.

There will be staff, security, first aiders and contractors available to offer assistance throughout the event.

You can find them in Hi-Vis or Wakefield Council Uniform, look for ‘EVENT STAFF’ on their backs.

Accessible Parking

The closest and most convenient accessible parking to the main festivals sites is Trinity Walk Shopping Centre or The Ridings Shopping Centre.

Trinity Walk WF1 1QQ

1,000 spaces with disabled parking located on the ground floor outside Sainsburys.

The Ridings Shopping CentreWF1 1DS

They have in total over 1,000 spaces, including 43 blue badge holder spaces and 22 family parking bays all with direct access into the centre.

Accessible Toilets

There will be an accessible port-aloo availableL

Bull Ring, Wakefield City Centre WF1 1HD

There are also accessible toilets within:

WX Wakefield Exchange WF1 3AD

The Ridings Shopping Centre WF1 1DS

Trinity Walk Shopping Centre WF1 1QQ

Assistance Dogs

Assistance dogs are welcome to all areas of the Rhubarb Festival

Please note only assistance dogs are welcome in the Chef Demos.

British Sign Language (BSL)

BSL Video

You watch our Rhubarb Festival BSL Video via the link below:

🔗 Rhubarb Festival 2026 – BSL

Chef Demos

There will be a BSL interpreter at the first 3 Chef Demos on each day of the festival.

Chef Demos are free with no booking required.

See below for the demos that have BSL interpreter:

FRIDAY 20 FEBRUARY

• 11am: Karen Wright, GBBO Contestant & Author
• 12pm: Heather Copley, Farmer Copleys
• 1pm: Jemma Ladwitch & Richard Holmes MBE, Cryer & Stott Cheesemongers Ltd

SATURDAY 21 FEBRUARY

• 11am: Claire Syrenne, Chef & Writer
• 12pm:Sharon Kaur, Really Indian
• 1pm: Soneeta Bhondi, The Spicy Biker

SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY

• 11am: Lianna Inman, Bakes by Vanilla Bean
• 12pm: Alex & James Hill, Milk From The Hills
• 1pm: Denim White, Chef, Tileyard North

Talks

There will be a BSL interpreter at the Rhubarb Festival Talks.

Please note although the talks are free, booking is required.

Rhubarb: From Garden to Kitchen by Kathy Slack

Friday 20 February, 4pm-5pm, Wakefield Exchange (WX) The Factory, Wakefield, WF1 3AD

Book at Rhubarb: From Garden to Kitchen by Kathy Slack at Wakefield Exchange (WX) The Factory event tickets from TicketSource

Core! & More: Apples, Pears and the Rose Family by Michael Holland

Saturday 21 February, 4pm-5pm, Wakefield Exchange (WX) The Factory, Wakefield, WF1 3AD

Book at  Core! & more: Apples, Pears and the Rose Family by Michael Holland at Wakefield Exchange (WX) The Factory event tickets from TicketSource

Changing Places Toilet

There are 2 Changing Places Toilets (CPT)  located in Wakefield City Centre:

WX Wakefield Exchange WF1 3AD

Trinity Walk Shopping Centre WF1 1QQ

CPT have more space and the accessible equipment, including a height adjustable changing bench, a peninsular toilet and a celling hoist. You can find out more at https://www.changing-places.org/

Easy Read Guide

Our Rhubarb Festival Easy Read Guide is available to read via the link below:

🔗 Easy Read Guide

Sensory Warnings

Please note this event can have busy crowds, particularly close to the Food & Drink Market stalls.

It can also be noisy in the Rhu-Bar and inside the Event Hub in WX Wakefield Exchange.

Site Description

There are two main sites comprising the Rhubarb Festival: Cathedral Precinct and WX Wakefield Exchange. 

Cathedral Precinct: The precinct is mainly flat and the area can be easily navigated around without having to cross many steps and inclines. Please note market stalls will be positioned down the Cathedral steps. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to provide ramps in this area but the stalls can be accessed by entering each level of the steps from the side.

WX Wakefield Exchange: WX Wakefield has full step-free access from their entrances and a full accessible lift on the ground floor by the main bar. They also have Baby Changing and Changing Places facilities.

Translations

If you would like to access Rhubarb Festival website information in another language, please use the Experience Wakefield ReciteMe function.

To do this, click the eye icon in the top right corner of this webpage.

Quieter Visiting Times

Please note this is not a ticketed event and therefore we cannot confirm what the site capacity will be on the day.

Previous years have shown Friday and Saturday as the busiest days and Sunday being slightly quieter. The crowds generally gather close to the stalls in the Food & Drink Market.

Should you need any form of medical attention please inform a member of staff or security onsite where they can show you where the medical tent is located or request for a medic to come to you.  

Unfortunately, we do not have any secure storage for medicines on site.  

We are continually updating event information for the Rhubarb Festival so please keep checking back on this page.  

If you do have any queries or feel that there is anything we can improve on, we are open to suggestions!

You can contact the team at:  festivals@wakefield.gov.uk