In three weeks' time, on February 8, the biggest-ever event for entrepreneurs in the north of England will be held at York Racecourse.

This will be the third Venturefest Yorkshire: by far the largest, and with the widest range of activities seen so far.

But why all this fuss and what does it mean? After all, if you go to a boat show, you know exactly what you are going to see, but if you go to a Venturefest you might be excused for wondering exactly what it is all about.

It all stems from the great drive to encourage people to think about starting their own business.

For too long the economy, not least in Yorkshire, has depended on employment by large businesses, with the result that the whole educational system has been geared to the needs of large employers.

Very few young people saw, still less were encouraged, to think about starting their own business and "doing their own thing". That's all changing, and fast! It needs to do, because large businesses are generally down-sizing and the economy is increasingly reliant on high-growth small businesses.

If we are to be successful then this process needs to start in schools and be carried on all the way through universities and colleges. The ethos and culture needs to support the idea of working for yourself and all the training, mentoring and support systems to show people how to be successful must be put in place.

As Alex McWhirter, head of enterprise at Yorkshire Forward, Venturefest's major sponsor, said "It's vital that establishing a business becomes recognised as a valid career option and that people with entrepreneurial spirit receive the right advice, help and support to help them to achieve their career goal."

Venturefest Yorkshire, more than any other single event in the UK, sets out to cover every aspect of this process.

Once again, Venturefest starts off, in a developmental sense, with a very strong input from schools under the auspices of the North Yorkshire Business Education Partnership (NYBEP) with its Enterprise Inspirations activities. We have already seen some astonishing products and individuals involved with entrepreneurial development in schools and that record is likely to be maintained this year.

Much of the work put into encouraging more start-up businesses is to create a strong pipeline of new opportunities. It is all very well to skim off some early successes but quite another thing to develop a whole culture and process capable of providing a sustainable supply of new commercial ideas and opportunities.

It is for this reason that Venturefest 2006 has particularly concentrated on attracting the very youngest business start-ups and even pre-start-ups. There will be more than 50 such early stage businesses within Innovation Central where the founders will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with professional advisers, potential investors and some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country.

So Venturefest will provide something for everyone from the world of business development and all related activities. It is the single, unique event where the youngest potential entrepreneur or the most recently formed business can meet with everyone who can help them to make their business successful.

This is of crucial importance, not only to York and Yorkshire but to the UK as a whole.

Anyone attending Venturefest will inevitably leave feeling that they have benefited from the visit and, if past experience is anything to go by, in some awe of the amazing range of dynamic entrepreneurial activities that we have going on in our region.

Updated: 11:28 Wednesday, January 18, 2006