HOPES of a record attendance at the 150th Great Yorkshire Show did not materialise, but in three days it still attracted 25,000 more visitors than the Royal Show in Warwickshire achieved over four.
Even though the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh visited the Great Yorkshire for a five-hour tour on Thursday, the final figure was 126,376 – almost 9,000 fewer than the record of 135,111.
The record was set in 2006 when the Prince of Wales and the Duc
hess of Cornwall attended the Harrogate showground on the last day.
Organisers of this year's Royal Show, which had the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall among its visitors, are claiming an attendance of "around 100,000". It was hit by Bluetongue restrictions and rain on two mornings.
Previously the Royal, which had 161,410 visitors in 2004, has been held from Sunday to Wednesday in the week before the Great Yorkshire.
This year the Royal, held in Stoneleigh Park, moved to a Thursday to Sunday show – finishing the day before many exhibitors were travelling to Harrogate – leaving some with little opportunity to attend both.
When the announcement was made last year, the Honorary Show Director of the Great Yorkshire, Bill Cowling, said: "We were very disappointed to be told by the organisers of the Royal Show that in order to boost their public visitor numbers they wish to have an extra weekend day and are moving their dates forward.
"The Royal describes itself as 'the most prestigious agricultural event of the year' but it seems to us that they are willing to sacrifice agricultural content for the potential gain of greater public attendance with the extra weekend day."
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is reluctant to get into a public argument with the Royal Agricultural Society of England.
But the Royal Show's failure to attract a higher number of visitors and the high quality of the Great Yorkshire Show has led to speculation about which can now lay claim to being the premier event.
Commenting on this year's show, Mr Cowling, who escorted the Queen during her visit, said: "We have had an excellent show and it was a real honour, not just for the show but for Yorkshire, to have a visit from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
"They spent five hours with us and thoroughly enjoyed their stay. They were able to get a real sense of the region's agriculture and our heritage generally. It was clear that they have genuine interest and empathy with country life, and that showed throughout the day."
Mr Cowling added: "The 2008 Show has been hugely successful and we're now looking forward to next year."
Although heavy rain made conditions difficult when the show was being set up on Monday, the weather stayed predominantly dry over the next three days. However, heavy rain on Wednesday night forced the cancellation of some equine classes for safety reasons.
