Schools, community groups, businesses and landowners are being encouraged to think big and get creative with the launch of the Tour de Yorkshire Land Art and Best Dressed competitions!
The Land Art competition recognises the efforts of those people who create the giant artworks which line the route each year. These stunning pieces are now a key feature of the race and include a whole host of wacky and wonderful creations. Last year’s winning design for instance, featured a winking goose and turkey riding 70s Chopper bikes which was painted onto a field near the Côte de Goose Eye climb!
The Best Dressed competition meanwhile, honours the communities and individuals that go the extra mile to celebrate the race. This competition is split into four categories: Best Dressed Village, Best Dressed Town, Best Dressed Host Location and Spirit of Le Tour.
The Best Dressed awards will be given to locations with the most spectacular and eye-catching decorations. The Spirit of Le Tour award will recognise an individual, community or business which has gone above and beyond to fully embrace the essence of the Tour de Yorkshire in a unique way.
A new-and-improved online entry process has been developed for both competitions this year, making it easy to get involved. Full details of how to enter can be found at letouryorkshire.com/competitions
Entries will be taken until midnight on Sunday 26 April, although it is strongly advised to get any submissions in as soon as possible so Welcome to Yorkshire can inform the TV producers and commentators, therefore maximising the chances of them getting picked up by the cameras during the four days of racing (Thursday 30 April – Sunday 3 May).
After the Tour has concluded, a shortlist of the best entries in each category will be drawn up and put to a public vote. The winners will then be invited to the Welcome to Yorkshire headquarters in Leeds to receive some special commemorative prizes.
Welcome to Yorkshire Chief Executive James Mason said: “This is the first time I’ve worked on a Tour de Yorkshire, but I’ve watched it with interest ever since it started and have always been blown away by the lengths people go to, to support the race. Every year whole towns and villages are draped in yellow and blue flags, and those giant land art pieces are always spectacular.
“We organise these competitions to honour those people around the county who go to such great lengths to get behind the race. Last year we had hundreds of entries and thousands of people cast their votes, and I can’t wait to see the submissions for this year’s competitions.”
Andrew Wood, who worked on the winning Land Art submission in 2019, said: “Winning the Land Art competition was brilliant and it was amazing to know so many people had voted for us. The moment the TV helicopter zoomed in on our design during the race was an experience I’ll never forget. To know 28 million people around the world were seeing what we’d created was a fantastic feeling and it made all our efforts worthwhile.”
Nick Reed from Bedale Town Council, who won the 2019 Best Dressed Host Location, said: “We were gobsmacked when Bedale won the Best Dressed Host Location and it was great that so people recognised the efforts our community had gone to. The whole town looked amazing and everyone got behind it. Nearly every shop had bikes in the window, there were blue and yellow sails right along the High Street, and some really innovative displays.”
