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Home : Travel : Get Fruity at an English Country Fair :

Get Fruity at an English Country Fair

Find out where your food comes from – from field to fork

This is the 'Year of Food and Farming' so, for a great day out, why not visit one of the county shows taking place between now and the autumn. Celebrate Britain's agricultural heritage and support our farmers. Sample local produce, learn about husbandry, witness livestock judging and shop at a wide range of stalls and sideshows.

15-17 May

Devon County Show, Westpoint, Exeter
See livestock, sample food and drink and enjoy the flower and garden marquee. Highlights this year include the Show President, HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, visiting the show on 15 May; and her son – the food writer Tom Parker Bowles – tasting up to 40 sausages as he judges the Spring Sausage Competition on 16 May. Official website »

17-18 May

Arley Country Fair & Horse Trials, Arley Hall, Cheshire
In its 5^th year, the Arley Country Fair runs in tandem with the British Eventing Horse Trials. Up to 8,000 visitors attend to celebrate rural life every year. Highlights include jousting, a gift and craft marquee, food marquee, Shire horses, falconry displays, clay shooting, crossbow, fishing casting and more.
Official website »

26 May

Surrey County Show, Stoke Park, Guildford
The UK's largest one-day agricultural event attracts around 40,000 visitors and combines entertainment with an insight into country life. Highlights include motorcycle stunt-riding, showjumping, a parachuting display, heavy horses, marching bands, dog displays, monster robot Titan, and 40 acres of stalls and stands. The end of the day is marked with a mass launch of hot-air balloons. Official website »

28-29 May

Suffolk Show, Trinity Park, Ipswich
Highlights include ferrets, sheep-dog demonstrations, heavy horses, gun dogs, horse-shoeing competitions, showjumping, birds of prey, vintage vehicles, rare breeds, Motocross riders, and Terrier racing.
Official website »

28-31 May

Royal Bath & West Show, Shepton Mallet, Somerset
Star Wars actor Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) will make only his 3^rd public appearance in the UK in 10 years when he visits the showground on
28 and 29 May. The show will be hosting a fashion show for the first time, and designer and presenter Jeff Banks will judge the 'best dressed couple' competition on 29 May. Martin Roberts, of BBC TV's 'Homes Under the Hammer' will be at the show throughout the four-day event, as will celebrity chef and author Clarissa Dickson Wright. Official website »

5-7 June

South of England Show, Haywards Heath, West Sussex
Experience the best of British agriculture, equestrianism, horticulture, food and drink, country crafts, sports and entertainment. Highlights include a colourful pageant, horse-shoeing competitions, a cavalcade of hounds, the young farmers' tug of war competitions, performing robot Titan, the Sheep Show team, a fur and feather zone for children, a pig village, and Jason Smyth's Adrenalin Tour featuring motorcycles and quad bikes. Official website »

5-7 June

Royal Cornwall Show, Wadebridge, Cornwall
Enjoy professional displays of flowers, vintage vehicles and forestry, buy local produce, and take in the steam fair. Official website »

13-15 June

Three Counties Show, Malvern Showground, Worcestershire
This event celebrates British farming, country living and rural life across Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire and bordering counties. Highlights this year include harness racing, hot-air balloons, a wool-handling competition, pig pairs competition, cookery demonstrations, farmers' market, Titan the robot, and scuba diving. There will also be displays by the Equimax Metropolitan Police Activity Ride, The Royal Signals Motorcycle Display Team, the White Helmets, the Red Devils and the Parachute Regiment Free Fall Team. Official website »

13-15 June

East of England Country Show, East of England Showground, Peterborough
Highlights include the Dancing Diggers (see video below), live music, cookery demonstrations, showjumping, vintage and veteran cars, working steam and vintage machinery, and a 'Homes & Gardens' show. Official website »

19-22 June

Royal Highland Show, Ingliston, Edinburgh
This extravaganza is Scotland's biggest outdoor event and one of the UK's top agricultural shows. Highlights include motors and machinery, shopping, music and dance, BMX riders, cookery demonstrations, children's fun and more. Plus, see the Highland Games World Champion and a team of international strong-men tossing cabers. Official website »

21-22 June

West Mid Show, Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Highlights include monster truck stunt displays, Cossack trick riding, Medieval jousting, parachuting displays, an English Civil War re-enactment, Titan the robot, fishing, shooting, falconry and forestry, plus the national outdoor tug-of-war championships. Official website »

25-26 June

Royal Norfolk Show, Norfolk Showground, Norwich
Highlights include sheep-shearing, farriery (horse-shoeing), a dog show, a gardening show, the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery and Motocross team performances.
Official website »

3-6 July

The Royal Show, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire
Highlights include food and drink, shopping, sheep-dog demonstrations, horticulture and flowers, a farmers' market, mole-catching displays, a two-horse vaulting display, parades of Hound Packs, a Polo display and more. Official website »

5-6 July

Cotswold Show & Country Fair, Cirencester Park, Gloucestershire
Witness rural craftsmen and women at work, take a hot-air balloon ride, try your hand at making beeswax candles, or enjoy the Victorian fairground rides. Highlights include a food village and farmers' market, monster truck stunt displays, Royal Logistic Corps' Sky-Diving, traditional children's entertainment and more. Official website »

8-10 July

Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate, North Yorkshire
The 150^th show boasts animals, country demonstrations, have-a-go activities and the Great Yorkshire Cheese & Dairy Show. Other highlights include fashion, hot-air ballooning, rural crafts, shopping, cookery demonstrations and the Black Dyke Band, plus the chance to drive a digger or ride the show's ferris wheel. Official website »

11-13 July

Kent County Show, Kent Showground, Maidstone
The show is Kent's largest outdoor event and boasts animals, arts and crafts, machinery, antiques, sheep-shearing and exhibits on wildlife, conservation, country crafts and the environment. Other highlights include fly-fishing, ferret racing, birds of prey, otters and hounds, timber extraction, cookery demonstrations and the Dancing Diggers. Official website »

19 July

Cumberland County Show, Carlisle, Cumbria
Event highlights include the young farmers' chariot race, dog displays, cookery demonstrations, a best-turned-out tractor competition, face painting, mini quad-bike racing and paintballing. Official website »

21-24 July

Royal Welsh Show, Llanelwedd, Powys
Highlights of the show include trotting, vintage machinery and falconry, plus performances by motorcycle display riders, a freefall display team and Ukrainian Cossacks. Official website »

26 July

Penrith Agricultural Show, Penrith, Cumbria
Highlights this year include sheep-dog demonstrations, Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestling, a vintage tractor parade, an air display by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, a motorcycle stunt display, and music from the Royal Scots Association Pipe Band. Official website »

29-31 July

New Forest & Hampshire County Show, Brockenhurst, Hampshire
The main attractions for this year's show include the Shetland Pony Grand National, heavy horses, miniature horses, fly-fishing, falconry, ferret-racing, blacksmith competitions, and performances by Christian Moullec and his Flying Geese.
Official website »

12-13 August

Anglesey County Show, Gwalchmai, Anglesey
Highlights include dry stone wall competitions, a pigeon and rabbit marquee, falconry, ferret racing, national shearing competitors, fashion shows, the International Gun Dog Trial, featuring teams from England, Ireland and Wales, and more than 300 light horse classes.
Official website »

17 August

Reading & Wokingham Country Show, Loddon Court Farm, Spencer's Wood
Highlights at this year's event include heavy horses, showjumping, a parade of classic cars, a poultry and pets marquee, a funfair, bouncy castles, a horticulture marquee, ferret and terrier racing, and mounted falconry displays featuring traditional costume. Official website »

28 August

Buckinghamshire County Show, Weedon Park, Aylesbury
Highlights and attractions this year include a sheep show, showjumping, vintage tractors, more than 200 trade stands, and displays by The Devil's Horsemen stunt riding team. Official website »

11 September

Westmorland County Show, Crooklands, Kendal, Cumbria
This livestock show is the biggest in Cumbria and also one of the oldest in Britain. New for 2008 is The Sheep Show, a live stage show featuring the woolly creatures where you can see them sheared. Official website »

20-21 September

Royal Berkshire County Show, Newbury Showground, Hermitage
Witness farm competitions, animal displays, showjumping, birds of prey, rural crafts and more. Official website »

Make a weekend of it...

Enjoy a free Sunday when you stay at Innkeeper's Lodge hotels until 31 October.

Check out our other inspirational ideas for days out and weekend breaks.

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