New date for return of Great Yorkshire Show

Like many events in 2020, the Great Yorkshire Show was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
11 July 2019......     Great Yorkshire Show Day 3.
General view of the visitors on the Presidents Lawn, the bandstand and the cattle parade in the main ring at the Great Yorkshire Show. Picture Tony Johnson.11 July 2019......     Great Yorkshire Show Day 3.
General view of the visitors on the Presidents Lawn, the bandstand and the cattle parade in the main ring at the Great Yorkshire Show. Picture Tony Johnson.
11 July 2019...... Great Yorkshire Show Day 3. General view of the visitors on the Presidents Lawn, the bandstand and the cattle parade in the main ring at the Great Yorkshire Show. Picture Tony Johnson.

As the national crisis escalated and the country struggled to contain the virus, organisers of the show took the decision to cancel the live event which was scheduled for July and run a virtual show.

But now the Yorkshire Agricultural Society organisers have declared the date for the event to return will be Tuesday 13–Thursday 15 July 2021.

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The Great Yorkshire Show is a county-wide institution, showcasing the very best of British farming, food and the countryside.

Held over three days in July, it welcomes more than 130,000 visitors and 8,500 animals every year.

And it regularly hosts national cattle competitions as well as one of the finest show jumping competitions in the country, the Cock O’The North.

The show’s strong agricultural links makes it one of the best placed for suppliers to showcase their latest models.

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And while agriculture at its heart, there’s also entertainment, shopping, live music, cookery demos and a professional catwalk fashion show – including a one-off celebrity special.

The first Great Yorkshire Show was held in 1838 when Queen Victoria was on the throne and Britain was in the grip of the Industrial Revolution.

A group of agriculturalists, led by the third Earl Spencer, met in York in 1937 to discuss the future of farming and decided to form the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

It had five aims to improve and develop agriculture. The first was to run a major agricultural event which led to the first Yorkshire Show the following year in 1838.

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In its early days, the Show, which gained the “Great” in 1843, was staged in various towns who bid to stage it.

It acquired its showground in 1950 and in 1951 nearly 54,000 visitors attended its new home where it remains.