YORK residents have spoken about the importance of Residents’ Festival 2024.

Matt Ward, Henry Ward and Natalie Penn, who live in Heworth, visited Fairfax House in Castlegate on Saturday morning (January 27), one of the many attractions open for York residents this weekend.

Historical attractions such as York Minster, JORVIK Viking Centre, Clifford’s Tower, Fairfax House, Barley Hall, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall and Beningbrough Hall will be opening their doors for free to residents across the weekend.

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Thirteen-year-old Henry and Natalie had never been to the Georgian townhouse before.

Natalie said: “We’d thought ‘maybe’ a couple of times before, like many things that you do, and then we saw 'residents’ weekend' and that sort of pushed us.”

“So we thought, ‘why not?’, let’s book it and bring Henry because he’s interested in the books and various things.”

Natalie said she was very impressed with the ease of the online booking process using her York Card.

The trio had only just walked into the entrance and the library at Fairfax House and Henry said he especially enjoyed the look and grandeur of the old books.

Matt said: “We’ll spend the day in town today, so we’ll have a look round more of the Festival.

“We’ve done the residents’ weekend before and the thing that we found is that it’s a cheap way of coming in and seeing things which you might not otherwise go and see.

“It’s brilliant for the city because I think then when visitors come, we can say ‘you should go there’.

“It gives you the opportunity to sell the city, and hopefully see more that the city offers.

“One of the great things about living in York is that people want to come and see you because it’s such a beautiful city.

“As a resident it’s important that you take people to Clifford’s Tower, the Minster, places like Fairfax House.

“Residents have got a big role to play in making sure people appreciate it.”

Read more about York Residents' Festival 2024 at www.visityork.org/offers/category/york-residents-festival-2024