Nottinghamshire County Show organisers hoping for big crowds back as event returns this weekend

The show, which had to be cancelled for the last two years, will take place at the Newark Showground on Saturday, May 14 and will feature a mix of prize-winning livestock, equine, traditional countryside fun and games, trade stands, local food producers and shopping and craft stalls.

It is the 137th time that the show has been held and it now has a new organising committee, which has also taken the decision to hold the event on one day instead of the traditional two.

The show will have more emphasis on animals and outdoor pursuits than in previous years, with a host of events, including a family-friendly dog show for canine all-comers and an interactive fact-finding trail for children, being planned, alongside the reinstatement of the grand parade of livestock in the main ring.

Elsewhere there will be a fur and feather tent, a food festival, a display of vintage tractors, a village green area featuring maypole dancing and classic countryside games and a wild and wacky lawnmower race staged by the Nottinghamshire Young Farmers Club.

The show is organised by the Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society and is one of the earliest county shows in the UK events calendar.

It attracts thousands of people, suppliers and competitors every year and May’s event represents the first time that the local rural community will have come together since the start of the pandemic two years ago.

Organisers hope that the runaway success of reality TV farming shows such as Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime, BBC One’s Kelvin’s Big Farming Adventure and Channel Five’s Our Yorkshire Farm, will inspire members of the public to come along.

And they hope that the experience of lockdown, when more people explored the local countryside on their doorstep, will have sparked a new-found interest in the rural way of life.

Richard Sheldon, chairman of the show committee, said: “It’s wonderful to be able to look forward to the Nottinghamshire County Show after what has been a difficult and a long two years and we can’t wait for May 14.

“It was a big decision for us to switch to one day, but we felt that it would enable us to focus all of our efforts into staging a fresh show with a host of new attractions to mark its return to the calendar.

“So much has changed in the world and the rural environment since our last show, but what hasn’t changed is the pride we all have in our way of life and our determination to bring thousands of people together to enjoy the very best livestock competitions, produce and activities that our county has to offer.

“Travel restrictions during lockdown and the TV programmes, especially the Clarkson effect, has raised interest in the countryside and our way of life and we hope that it will inspire people to come down and find out what farming and country living is all about.”

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