City of York Council and Made in Cumbria are launching the first Cumbrian producers' fair in York tomorrow (Wednesday, May 15).

The event, which will feature in Parliament Street until Saturday, will be held in two stages with a varied selection of Cumbrian made craft and giftware - including designer jewellery, traditional wooden toys and Lakeland artwork - on show tomorrow and Thursday.

Then, on Friday and Saturday, the fair will feature speciality Cumbrian food - including delicious Herdwick Lamb, the traditional yard of Cumberland sausage, award winning honey mustards and the famed Sarah Nelson's Grasmere Gingerbread.

Sarah Williams, food marketing officer with Made in Cumbria, said that both Cumbria and North Yorkshire felt the full force of last year's foot and mouth epidemic and sympathies had been shared throughout both counties. All the producers who are attending this week's market had been hit in some way, either directly with the culling of their livestock or indirectly through the reduction in tourists visiting the region.

Paul Barrett, City of York Council's markets manager, said, "Made in Cumbria is the latest in our 2002 series of event Markets in Parliament Street. North Yorkshire understands as much as anybody the problems encountered by similar suffering foot and mouth regions and we are pleased to hear Cumbria is getting back on its feet again.

"Producers in both counties are working together for mutual benefits and we are happy to welcome its traders to this side of the Pennines. Visitors to this inaugural event will, I am sure, be pleasantly surprised by the specialist crafts and foods on offer this week."

Sarah said, "This is such a good opportunity to show the public we are taking positive action to promote those who endured such a torrid time in 2001.

"By taking our producers out of the county to such places such as York we are showing that not only Cumbria but the rest of rural England is back open for business."

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