Great Yorkshire Show: Yorkshire's glorious celebration of rural life set for stunning weather
Yorkshire’s annual four-day celebration of rural life, food and farming is set to kick off today under glorious skies, against a backdrop of one of the toughest years in memory for the agricultural community.
Alongside an array of attractions and contests showcasing the best of British agriculture, The Great Yorkshire Show, which moved to its permanent showground in Harrogate in 1951, will feature numerous workshops and conferences aimed at tackling issues facing farmers.
These include a project to roll out health and wellbeing support across the North of England has benefited nearly 1,300 farmers and others within the wider farming community and is set to deliver more help over the next year, including at the 166th edition of the show.
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society, organisers of the show, has worked with training specialists F3A to deliver a series of farming focused first aid training workshops, has toured Supper On Us events around Yorkshire to bring farmers together socially and, at the show, its Women In Farming Network will host a summer get-together for rural women in the Innovation Zone at 4pm on Thursday.
Farming visitors are being invited to attend a Navigating the Budget event at the Ariat GYS Stage at 8am on Friday, where they can enjoy a free breakfast before hearing from an expert panel.
For much of the show’s four days, it is due to be bathed in sunshine, with temperatures climbing steadily from a maximum 22C today to 29C on Friday. Met Office forecasters believe the only day which could see wet weather is tomorrow afternoon, when they rated the chance of rain at 12 per cent.
While visitors to the show are familiar with landmarks across the 250-acre showground, crowds walking on Lower Stock Avenue for the 166th edition of the event will be greeted by a new modern structure.
As part of the society’s rolling review of infrastructure, it has upgraded its facilities for housing cattle. Alongside the ranks of cattle sheds there will be a 32m by 20m building fitted with a penning system, integrated drainage with capacity for more than 90 cattle, to further boost the facilities for showing cattle.
Great Yorkshire Show stalwart Penny Evans, who with her husband David runs “the last farm in North Yorkshire”, at Nunthorpe, near Middlesbrough, said the showground's array of bespoke buildings represented the event's importance.
She said: “The Main Ring has to stay the same, if that changes the Great Yorkshire Show has lost its soul. I would argue the cattle buildings are part of that infrastructure that everyone knows and loves."
Jonathon Jessop, director of Yorkshire Steel Buildings, added: "The Great Yorkshire Showground is at the heart of the agricultural community in our region, and to play a part in its continued development is a privilege we do not take lightly.”
Tickets for tomorrow and Thursday (Jul 9 and 10) of the show have sold out and organisers have emphasised there is limited availability remaining to attend the event on Friday.
Show director Rachel Coates said: “It is shaping up to be an absolutely brilliant Great Yorkshire Show, with so much for everyone to enjoy. The showground is looking fantastic and final preparations are well underway.”
New for 2025, the show will host the Britain’s Fittest Farmer competition, organised by Farmers Weekly, on the Young Farmers Lawn today. This will see farmers proving their physical skill in a series of gruelling challenges.
First-class butchery will come in the form of the Battle of the Butchers competition and competitive horse shoeing will see sparks fly in The Forge. The Great Yorkshire Pole Climbing Championships and the work of top regional artists will be among other highlights.
The show will also host five national breed shows, with Aberdeen Angus, Longhorn and Charolais cattle and Zwartbles and Kerry Hills in the sheep section.
Farming’s next generation will take to the rings, including in the Northern Region Shepherd of the Future competition.