The Dare 2b Yorkshire Festival of Cycling will run at Harewood House during the Tour de France's opening stages this weekend.

As well as providing a prime spot for spectators to watch le Tour – whose route includes a section and ceremonial race start at Harewood House on Saturday – the event will feature a variety of sporting and other attractions.

Those will include a flypast by the Red Arrows and duathlons, cycling time trials and trail runs where the challenge will be to beat times set by Olympic gold and bronze medal-winning triathletes Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee, from Bramhope.

A series of guided bicycle rides will also head out into the Yorkshire Dales so fans can view the later stages of the race on the Saturday and Sunday, with selected routes led by Olympic silver medallist Lizzie Armitstead.

Live music will kick the whole festival off, with Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley, Rebecca Ferguson and Soul ll Soul performing at the opening Tour Concert on Friday.

There will also be a cycling cinema, outdoor shopping exhibition, literary and adventure talks, family-focused assault courses, and a big screen to watch both the rest of Le Grand Depart and the football World Cup.

Other high-profile sporting guests attending will include 2006 Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro and Ireland’s former Tour, Giro and World Champion, Stephen Roche.

For more details, visit www.festivalofcycling.org.

The official Tour de France spectator hubs are bound to provide some of the best places to watch the Tour de France as it roars through Bradford district this weekend.

With big screens, events and entertainment, spectator hubs will be created at Riverside Gardens in Ilkley, Victoria Park in Keighley, and Central Park in Haworth, for the Grand Depart.

The hubs are organised to be some of the best places to watch the opening stages of the world-famous race for free. There will be smaller hubs in Otley town centre, on Skipton high street, and at Grassington National Park Centre.

The Ilkley spectator hub at Riverside Gardens is one of the bigger ones and will feature two big screens.

It will run over four days until Sunday and is expected to attract more than 13,000 fans. There will be food stalls, cycle parking facilities, a large car park and disabled access.

There will be 100 volunteers on hand to assist and 150 people employed to ensure crowd safety.

The food court will offer many different types of cuisine and locally-sourced food. The main Yorkshire Festival Bar will be providing Yorkshire Lager, Yorkshire Cider and other festival drinks.

The entertainment will comprise of children’s activities, World Record attempts, bands and performers. Rupert Stroud has been announced as the headline act on Friday night, along with soul singer Janet Jaye providing entertainment during the day.

Two giant screens will show the race live, and at night the screens will be turned into a giant pop-up cinema.

Visit ilkleyhub.co.uk for more details.

Space will be limited at the Central Park spectator hub in Haworth, where the riders face a key climb on the route. In addition to the existing amenities in the village, the park will also have a large screen, food stalls, children activities, and disabled access.

There will be music on both Saturday and Sunday, and entertainment will include a big screen streaming the event live, children’s activities and workshops, music from local artists and on Saturday evening, live acts until 23:00.

There will be on site catering, bar and refreshments and a small number of market stalls. A secure cycle storage facility is going to be provided close to the park.

Central Park is located alongside to the Grand Départ route at the bottom of the world famous, cobbled Main Street.

For more details, visit haworthhub.com.

Councillor Andrew Thornton, Bradford Council’s portfolio holder for sport, said: “The hubs are the ideal place to relax and enjoy this fantastic spectacle.

“These three sites tick all the boxes for a great family day out and you’ll be able to watch the whole race while soaking up the amazing atmosphere.”

A programme of entertainment for the Tour de France spectator hub at Victoria Park in Keighley, which can hold about 5,000 people, will keep the crowds entertained.

Thousands of people are expected to flock to the park during this weekend, and organisers of the hub are determined to help keep visitors and locals alike occupied.

Among the bands due to play on stage are Galleon Blast, which features BBC radio presenter Mark Radcliffe.

Councillor Tony Wright, chairman of Keighley Town Council’s events and leisure committee, said: “I’ve no idea how many will turn up, but we have a peak capacity of about 5,000. If it gets too full, we’ll direct people elsewhere.

“Victoria Hall will have a large projector screen, so people with disabilities, if they want, will have somewhere to sit indoors and watch the race.”

He added other bands booked to play include Howlin’ Johnny Gow And The 59 Sound, Delirium, Night Patrol and Jamba Samba.

'Ginger Viking' comedian Chris Brooker will compere on Sunday, and there will also be a giant outdoor television screen, refreshments, secure bike storage and circus-style acts.

“Part of the idea will be to give people somewhere to go after the race has passed though. We don’t want everyone rushing back to their cars at the same time.”

Where will you be watching the Grand Depart this weekend?