Yorkshire Day celebrations around the county include parade of mayors, Yorkshire Pudding mural, and hat throwing

Montage of Yorkshire Day celebrations Credit: Visit Malton / PA Images

The monsoon weather that has battered the county for two days has not stopped the range of celebrations promised for Yorkshire Day 2019.

In Halifax, the Piece Hall celebrated two years since its reopening on 1 August 2017. More than five million visitors have attended events at the Grade I listed cloth hall in the last two years, far exceeding the managing trust's expectations.

Events there today included the presence of a town-cryer and children waving White Rose flags.

At Sheffield Markets, stallholder Susannah Youdan laid on a spread of Yorkshire-origin food goods.

"I think it's important to support food made locally," she said: "I've been asked to do it again by the warm people who've come through."

In Malton, a new mural has been unveiled to celebrate one of the region's most famous exports: the Yorkshire pudding.

Yorkshire puddings are one of the county's most famous exports. Credit: Steve Parsons/PA Archive/PA Images

While the notion of a “dripping pudding” came about in 1737, it wasn’t until the publication of a 1747 recipe book ‘The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy’ when the current idea of a Yorkshire Pudding recipe was created.

It surged to fame, gaining its official title ten years later but the author however, mysteriously penned “By a Lady”, retained her anonymity - subsequently revealed to be Hannah Glasse.

Tom Naylor-Leyland, the director of Visit Malton, said the artwork was only completed yesterday, with "guys literally racing against time to finish it".

A new mural has been painted on the side of McClarrons in Malton. Credit: Visit Malton

“We all know and love the mighty Yorkshire Pudding", he said. "No roast dinner is complete without it and it holds a nostalgic place in the hearts of home cooks and foodies across the UK.

"Malton is Yorkshire's food capital, so it's with great honour that we have installed a giant tribute to our treasured Yorkshire pud for all to see.”

The Yorkshire Pudding recipe on the side of a building in Malton. Credit: Visit Malton

At York Maze, Yorkshire Puddings were thrown as part of an afternoon of fun activities. Competitors lined up to see who could fling the delicacies the furthest distance.

Yorkshire puddings fly at York Maze Credit: Charcoal Communications

In this year's competition, 14-year-old Bradley Harrison achieved the longest lob – even beating the winner of the adults' heats.

  • Under-9s: 11m, by Dylan Horsman, 8, from York

  • Aged 9 to 16: 14m, by Bradley Harrison, 14, from Middlesbrough

  • Adults: 13.6m, by Darren Horsman from York

Dylan Horsman, 8, from York Credit: Charcoal Communications

In Huddersfield, Jan Siewert, the manager of Town FC, wished reporters at a press conference a "happy Yorkshire Day" and confirmed that this morning, he had tried the region's drink of choice: tea, with sugar and milk.

The seaside town of Whitby is also among those marking this year's event.

The centrepiece was a parade of mayors, lord mayors and other civic dignitaries from all corners of Yorkshire through the town's narrow streets.

The parade of Lord Mayors, Mayors and other Civic Heads from across Yorkshire make their way through Ripon during last year's Yorkshire Day Celebrations. Credit: Danny Lawson/PA Archive/PA Images

Another traditional celebration of Yorkshire Day took place last weekend.

Residents of Saddleworth, in Greater Manchester, held their festivities in the village of Uppermill on Sunday.

The district was taken from Yorkshire and handed to its Mancunian neighbours in the local government reorganisation of 1974 but residents remember their Yorkshire affiliations on the closest Sunday to 1 August each year.

A new survey for Yorkshire Day by the Yorkshire-based communications firm Plusnet shows a chasm between millennials and baby boomers' ideas of what they consider to be Yorkshire "icons".

Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys look set to be a lasting icon of the region, with 21% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they made Yorkshire what it is in 2019.

But the Bronte sisters are falling out of favour, with only 6% of millennials naming them Yorkshire icons compared with 40% of those aged 55 and over.

Gravy was another rising Yorkshire star, with 29% of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they felt the brown stuff deserved the crown compared with just 9% of respondents over 55.

But there was clear agreement over the Yorkshire pudding, with 54% of millennials and 69% of baby boomers putting the gastronomic classic at the top of the list.

The survey found that 85% of Yorkshire folk admitted to eating a Yorkshire pudding in the last three months and more than half (52%) of locals stated they could not live without the delicacy.