St Clement’s Festival is a free one-day celebration in Malton, North Yorkshire, on Saturday 21 November 2026, built around the patron saint of blacksmiths and a town that calls itself Yorkshire’s food capital.
Everyone covering Malton in November writes about food. The town calls itself Yorkshire’s food capital, and the Little Bird artisan market runs the same day, so the angle writes itself.
Few guides lead with the blacksmith. The festival is named for St Clement, patron saint of blacksmiths, and recent programmes have centred on forges, fire and a lantern procession. It is also young. The first festival took place in 2023, so this is a modern town festival with a very old saint attached to it, not an ancient custom.
That makes it easier to plan than it looks. It is free, it fills one market square, and you can get the whole day done on foot.
Region: Malton, Ryedale, North Yorkshire
Best for: Families, food shoppers, anyone who likes lanterns and fire in winter
Getting there: Market Place, Malton YO17 7LX
Time needed: 4 to 6 hours, from the 10am start to the evening finale
St Clement’s Festival: What Happens in Malton
The 2026 festival is on Saturday 21 November and offers free entry, according to Go Yorkshire. Yorkshire Pudd gives the hours as 10am to 6pm and describes it as a free one-day celebration of winter, harvest, music and traditional blacksmithing.
Go Yorkshire lists sculpture and art trails, light shows, music with singing and dancing, and food from local restaurants. The organisers are the Malton St Clement’s Steering Group, made up of business and organisation representatives.
I could not find a published 2026 timetable. Treat the details below from previous years as a guide, not a promise, and check Visit Malton’s festival page before you travel.
In late November, the Market Place gets dark early, so the best of the day arrives as the light fades. Expect woodsmoke, hot food and the clang of metal.
Where to Stay: The Talbot on Yorkersgate has 26 bedrooms and is taking bookings. Its own site says the building was a hunting lodge built in 1740.
Worth Knowing: The Gazette and Herald reported the 2025 festival ran from 10am to 6pm, as a free community event.
The Blacksmith Saint
Why a blacksmith? The Scarborough News reported that the first festival, on 25 November 2023, celebrated St Clement as the patron saint of blacksmiths, as well as autumn and the town’s craftspeople. Go Yorkshire gives the same reason for the 2026 event.
That first festival used Market Place and The Cook’s Place, with craft, storytelling and lantern-making workshops, a children’s lantern procession, a son et lumière and late-night shopping, ending with a grand finale at 6:30pm.
The Gazette called the 2025 festival the organisers’ most ambitious yet. It brought live blacksmithing demonstrations, open-fire cooking, bushcraft and woodland skills, and a children’s adventure called The Blacksmith’s Quest. That is a lot of fire for one square. The format looks stable even if each year’s details change.
The daytime strand is gentler. Visit Malton’s 2024 listing describes crafting and treat-making workshops, storytelling, willow lantern-making for children, and live music from bands, choirs and buskers. The Gazette says choirs and musicians performed inside St Michael’s Church throughout the day in 2025, which gives you somewhere warm to stand and listen between stalls.
Weather matters. Malton’s 2024 listing says blacksmithing and forge demonstrations were cancelled that year due to conditions, though indoor activities continued. Dress for November and keep a plan B for the middle of the day.
Where to Stay: The Talbot lists six room types, from Classic Double to Deluxe Suite, and takes bookings directly or by phone on 01653 639096.
Worth Knowing: According to Visit Malton, the 2024 festival also included a theatre experience called Looking for Loki at 5pm.
Lanterns and Light on the Church
The evening is the point. The 2025 programme, per the Gazette, ended with a son et lumière projected on the church facade and a lantern procession through the Market Place past illuminated trees. The 2023 and 2024 festivals also ended with a son et lumière.
The church is St Michael’s, on the Market Place. Historic England lists it as Grade II*, first listed on 29 September 1951. The nave dates to about 1150, and the tower to the 15th century, with three stages and angled buttresses. The chancel was rebuilt in 1858.
Stand where the projection lands and look at the stone. A Norman nave from around 1150 is being lit by projectors, and the 15th-century tower stands over the crowd. The old building is the screen.
Malton’s 2024 listing says businesses can sponsor illuminated trees outside the church and across the Market Place.
Arrive early for the procession, because the Market Place is not large.
Where to Stay: The Talbot has a restaurant open daily from 7:30am to 9pm, so you can eat before the procession and walk back after.
Worth Knowing: Historic England’s listing records a 17th-century circular font with carved foliage and a 20th-century Doric screen closing off the Lady chapel.
The Little Bird Artisan Market
The same day, Little Bird runs its monthly artisan market. Little Bird Made lists the venue as Market Place, Malton, with the date 21 November 2026 and hours from 10am to 3pm. Yorkshire Pudd lists the next Little Bird date after that as 19 December.
The market is outdoors, and Visit Malton cancelled the July 2026 date for high winds. Check the Visit Malton page in the morning.
Note the timing. The market closes at 3pm while the festival runs to 6pm. Shop first, then eat, then stay for the lanterns.
Expect handmade goods from independent makers. For larger crowds and more stalls, our Yorkshire Christmas markets guide covers the larger markets in the weeks that follow.
Where to Stay: The Talbot is dog-friendly, with a £20 nightly supplement for up to two dogs, according to its own website.
Worth Knowing: Little Bird’s Malton page describes the town as Yorkshire’s food capital.
Why Malton Is the Food Capital
Come hungry. Visit Malton’s guest blog credits a deep-rooted commitment to local produce and craftsmanship. It names Rare Bird Distillery for gin workshops, The Cook’s Place for cookery classes and Roost Coffee and Roastery, which hosts a supper club called the After Dark Secret Society. If the festival leaves you wanting a seated meal, that is a name to look up, though I could not confirm dates.
Bradt’s 48-hour guide adds Talbot Yard, a converted coaching yard food court with a bakery, a gelato counter and a copper gin distillery, plus Malton Relish deli and Derek Fox’s butchers, known for the Yorkshire Pot, a Christmas dish of four boned birds nested inside each other.
The Visit Malton blog also lists a monthly food market on the second Saturday, March to November, 9am to 3pm. In 2026 that second Saturday is 14 November, a week before the festival. Check dates, because that blog may predate the current schedule.
If you want to learn rather than just eat, Bradt says The Cook’s Place is an independent cookery school offering half-day and full-day courses in baking, fish dishes and other cuisines. The same guide lists Rare Bird Gin at Talbot Yard, where the copper distillery offers tours and gin-and-tonic instruction. Book ahead for either, because I could not confirm their festival-day availability.
Plan the day as a grazing route. Start at the Market Place stalls, walk through Talbot Yard around lunchtime, and keep your appetite for dinner at the hotel.
Where to Stay: The Talbot sources from nearby producers including Bluebird Bakery and Yorkshire Heart Wines, according to its own site.
Worth Knowing: The Bradt guide says Derek Fox’s butchers is known for the Yorkshire Pot.
Roman Malton, if You Have an Hour
Malton was a Roman fort long before it was a food town. Malton Museum says the fort was occupied from the beginning of the Roman period to the very end, with the earliest certain fort under Agricola’s governorship, AD 77 to 83. Its Latin name is uncertain: long identified as Derventio, but some scholars now favour Delgovicia.
The collection includes a clay roof tile bearing a child’s footprint, a mess tin stamped with its maker’s and owner’s names, and a jet bear from a child’s grave. The footprint is the item to look for.
There is a catch. The museum at 36 Yorkersgate is open from April to October 2026, Thursday to Saturday, 10:30 to 15:30, according to its website. It will be closed on 21 November, so save it for a spring visit.
Where to Stay: The Talbot is on Yorkersgate, the same street as the museum.
Worth Knowing: The museum’s Roman page says a cavalry commander named Candidus is recorded on an inscribed stone from the mid-2nd century.
Practical Tips
- The festival is Saturday 21 November 2026 at Market Place, 10am to 6pm, free. The Little Bird market is 10am to 3pm the same day.
- No 2026 programme was published when this was written. Check Visit Malton before you go.
- Come for the early evening procession, not just the morning stalls.
- Use the AllTrails app if you want a riverside walk to fill the gap before dark.
- Dress for outdoor November. Both the market and the forge demonstrations depend on weather.
- Book rooms early. The Talbot is the only hotel I can confirm is accepting bookings.
Responsible Visiting
Keep back from the forge and fire areas, and follow the stewards. Keep dogs on short leads in the crowd. Spend money at the local stalls, because that is what keeps the market going.
Reader Q&A
When is St Clement’s Festival in 2026?
Saturday 21 November 2026, 10am to 6pm in Malton Market Place. It is free.
Why is it called St Clement’s Festival?
St Clement is the patron saint of blacksmiths, and the festival celebrates him, autumn, and Malton’s craftspeople.
How old is the festival?
The first festival was held on 25 November 2023, so 2026 is its fourth year.
Is the Little Bird market on the same day?
Yes. Little Bird’s Malton market runs 10am to 3pm on 21 November in Market Place.
What time is the lantern procession?
No 2026 time has been published. In earlier years, the procession and light show were in the evening, so plan to stay until dusk.
Is the Roman museum open that day?
No. Malton Museum is open from April to October, Thursday to Saturday, so it is closed on 21 November.
Where to Stay
The Talbot, Malton. 26 bedrooms on Yorkersgate, a former hunting lodge built in 1740, restaurant open daily, dogs welcome for £20 a night.
When the last lantern goes out, the church goes dark again, and the town goes back to being a market square with a Norman nave at one end.
