The final countdown to the Royal Highland Show has begun.
Thousands of animals from across the UK are going through last minute training and coiffuring for the marathon session of showing and parading that will take place at Ingliston between Thursday and Sunday next week. And teams of exhibitors, trade stand constructors and machinery dealers are working flat out, preparing equipment and catering for the 190,000 or so visitors expected to pour through the turnstiles.
The four-day event is reportedly worth £47 million to the Scottish economy, and yesterday the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) announced it would remain the title sponsor or another five years, leading to 40 years of continued sponsorship of the country’s biggest farming festival.
The Royal Highland Show is unmissable for every sector of Scottish agriculture. For pedigree breeders a first-prize ticket or championship rosette adds prestige and value to a herd or flock while commercial farmers tour the £72 million worth of state-of-the-art machinery on display and meander at leisure down the long lines of livestock in the Highland Hall. New technology is on show; advice is forthcoming from research institutes; and the event is important too for equestrian enthusiasts, with some of the UK’s top riders competing for £48,000 in prize money.
Commenting on the continuing sponsorship, Malcolm Buchanan, chairman of the RBS Scottish board, said the Royal Highland Show was synonymous with the success, history and longevity of Scotland’s agriculture sector.
“Agriculture is hugely important to Scotland’s economy and it is important that as a bank we do everything that we can to help those operating within the sector and make sure our 31 agricultural specialists understand the unique issues the industry here faces,” he said.
There will be 1000 beef and dairy cattle, 2000 horses, 1500 sheep, 100 goats and more than 500 poultry on the showground. Sheep shearing demonstrations and competitions are always a highlight and in the forestry section there will be chainsaw carving, axe throwing, timber shifting, handsaw skills, horse-logging and world record attempts in pole climbing on the 80ft poles.
The show is often described as Scottish farming’s shop window and the food hall, now known as Larder Live, displays the best produce from across the country as well as live cooking demonstrations and tastings of cheeses, jams, gins and whiskies. There is a “motor zone” featuring the latest vehicles for cross country and utility, an outdoor area and music which includes everything from ceilidh and country to jazz and piles and drums at locations throughout the showground.
Meanwhile the ever popular Herdsman’s Bar is no more, and has been replaced by a range of new licenced premises including a new gin bar, ‘The Botanical Garden’ and The Stetson, the show’s first country music themed bar which will sit behind the Lowland Hall.
