Art in the Barn marks 25 years in Poppleton

There is something quietly satisfying about an event that simply keeps coming back. Poppleton's Art in the Barn is exactly that: a long-standing annual art show in North Yorkshire that has quietly built up a following over the years, and this year it marks its 25th anniversary with a special exhibition later in the month. It is the sort of low-key, creative day out that rewards a bit of wandering, and the setting does a lot of the heavy lifting.

The exhibition runs from Saturday 29 to Monday 31 August, and the hours are worth noting before you set off: 10am to 5pm on the Saturday and Sunday, and a slightly shorter 10am to 4pm on the Monday. Admission and parking are free, which makes it an easy one to drop into without much planning. Inside you will find work by 30 artists, with original watercolours, acrylics, pastels, linocut prints, sculpture and handmade greetings cards all on show. A pop-up café does home-baked cakes and refreshments, and you can take your coffee either inside the barn or out into the surrounding Tudor Garden if the weather is on your side. Anything you buy goes towards a donation for the upkeep of the barn itself, so the browsing has a bit of a double purpose.

For those who would rather beat the crowds, there is a ticket-only preview evening on Friday 28 August from 7pm to 9pm, at £5 a ticket, which includes wine and canapés and is opened by the award-winning York artist Patrick Smith. If that appeals, you will need to reserve a place by emailing gill.griffiths1@hotmail.co.uk.

The building is half the draw. The Tithe Barn at Manor Farm in Nether Poppleton is a Grade II listed 16th-century barn, often known as Rupert's Barn, and dendrochronology research puts it at least 450 years old, built around 1542 on the site of an old nunnery. It was damaged by fire in 1928, and the brickwork you see now was added in the 18th century. The Friends of the Poppleton Tithe Barn, a registered charity, took it on and restored it between 1999 and 2000, and they remain the tenants today. The Art in the Barn group grew out of a one-off exhibition held to promote the barn after that restoration, and it has since settled into a steady rhythm: a summer show over the August Bank Holiday weekend to showcase the work and raise funds for the building's maintenance, and workshops twice a month throughout the rest of the year. The group is chaired by Stephanie Wood, and the whole thing continues to run on the same community spirit that got it going a quarter of a century ago. Whether you are there for the art or the building, it is a gentle way to spend a few hours in North Yorkshire.