Great Yorkshire Show to be held over four days for the first time in its history

A statement tweeted said the show is still set to go ahead as long as the Covid-19 roadmap doesn't change, but this time it will be held across four days, from July 13 to 16.

Tickets are set to go on sale on June 1.

The statement said: "We can today announce our plans to hold the Great Yorkshire Show over 4 days for the first time in our history. If the Covid-19 roadmap remains unchanged, the Show will take place on Tuesday 13th to Friday 16th July 2021, 8am-5pm each day. Tickets go on sale 1st June."

It comes after last year's edition of the famous show was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Want more farming and rural news? Join our dedicated Facebook group.At the start of March, organisers said the 162nd edition of the show would go ahead over its usual three days - however England's largest rural showpiece will now run into the Friday.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post earlier this year, Charles Mills, the honorary show director, told The Yorkshire Post that the time-frame to organise the event had been dramatically cut back and the exact form of this summer’s show would depend on the lifting of coronavirus restrictions.

Speaking from his 500-acre farm at Appleton Roebuck near York, Mr Mills said: “We hope the show will be back to as normal as it can be, but there are a lot of discussions that need to take place.

“We are approaching things cautiously, and the most important thing of all is the safety of the visitors and all the people who are involved in putting on the show.

“But it is a joyous moment to be able to say that we are planning to put the show on. So many people are craving some sort of normality, and the Great Yorkshire Show means so much to so many people.”

Farming charity YAS reiterated that England’s premier showcase of farming, food and the countryside will only take place if the Government’s roadmap

out of coronavirus restrictions remains unchanged.

Details of any restrictions on large gatherings after the Government’s planned lifting of restrictions on June 21 are not yet clear and will be informed by the outcome of a series of pilot events planned in the Spring.

However, YAS does anticipate there will be a strict cap on the number of people allowed to gather at large events and so by adding a fourth day to the Great Yorkshire Show, more visitors will have the chance to attend safely.

Most major livestock and equine competition schedules and entry forms will be available shortly on the Great Yorkshire Show website.

Last year’s Great Yorkshire Show was cancelled in full for the first time since the Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001, with the 2020 Show going virtual instead. It offered behind the scenes tours of farms, workshops and with food producers that attracted viewers from more than 40 different countries.