WHILE the showground has not experienced the best of weather in 2024, everybody is fantasising about sunnier days ahead this summer, and hopefully this will include a good Royal Cornwall Show.

However, no matter the weather, you can expect the best day out (or three!) at the show this year, as the organisers provide for another event full of breath-taking entertainment, some of the top livestock and equine competition in the country, as well as the best in local food and hundreds of trade stands.

Cornish heritage and tradition will once again be the heartbeat radiating throughout the whole showground. The organisers are delighted to welcome back the Creative View Ltd Countryside Village, as well as the Rural Skills area, multiple local craft marquees and Cornish food and drink.

The event will also provide a priceless platform for innovation and development in agriculture with many of the top machinery and technology companies in attendance, as well as an opportunity to educate and inspire.

There will be thousands of animals in attendance from cattle to cage birds and everything in between. Hundreds of classes will determine the annual winners and champions, but is also the opportunity to learn more about the animals and the environment around us, including the rare breeds exhibit and demonstrations with falcons to police dogs.

It is a foodie paradise at the Royal Cornwall Food and Farming Pavilion, with dozens of local food and drink producers from across the county ready for you to find your next favourite! There are also food trucks and catering dotted across the showground, from pasties to paella, and everything in between.  

Horsepower is the name of the game in the Main Ring this year. We are honoured to be hosting the JCB Dancing Diggers display team, they only visit a few Shows each year, so make sure you do not miss this rare opportunity to see them.  

The show will also be welcoming back the Cornwall Airport Newquay Shetland Pony Grand National, which was one of the most popular features of the Show in 2022. Catch them twice a day in the Main Ring, battling it out for a coveted place in the final at this years’ London International Horse Show in December.  

The RAF Falcons will be dropping in each day (weather permitting of course!) and the region’s best Show Jumpers will be competing for the top prizes in a competition of speed and accuracy.  

There’s so much to do – one day might not be enough! 

The Royal Cornwall Show takes place on June 6, 7, and 8, at the Events Centre in Wadebridge. Tickets can be purchased online at www.royalcornwall.co.uk

The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association held its annual general meeting at the Royal Cornwall Events Centre recently, delivering a round-up of the past financial year, and plans for the coming one, to a full room of attendees.

First call of business was the financial report, which all in all was a positive one. After a year of significant rises in costs, but increases in admission, trade stands and competition entries, and planned budgeting for said cost rises, meant that the association did see an increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

Next was the official appointment of the 2024 show president, and after serving for a year as president-elect, Tremayne Carew Pole of Antony House near Torpoint, was elected. Tremayne follows in a long tradition of the Carew Pole family’s association with the RCAA and the Royal Cornwall Show, and has a strong history of promoting the future of farming and agriculture.

The appointment of the new president-elect was confirmed as Edward Coode, who is a former Olympic Champion for Team GB’s Rowing Team in Athens 2004. Since retiring from professional sport, Edward has worked as a solicitor in agricultural and property teams, including his family firm Coodes LLP. Edward now runs the Coode Estate, which includes many tenanted farms across Cornwall.

He follows in his father Jonathan Coode’s footsteps, who himself is a previous show president and former association chairman, and current Vice President. Edward has a firm belief in the promotion of farming and food production and its importance to the local area.

As part of the AGM, the awards for the association’s Winter and Summer Points Championships were presented. Here, points are accumulated for results at agricultural shows across Cornwall during the winter and summer seasons.

The Christophers family from near Truro won the summer cattle points award with Tom Nancekivell from Bude picking up the summer award for sheep points. Chris Eddy from Hayle, and Gwen Renfree from Altarnun, were awarded with the winter awards for cattle and sheep respectively.

THE Royal Cornwall Show has a history that spans more than 230 years.

The organisers of the show were founded in Bodmin in 1793 as the Cornwall Agricultural Society, and the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association, as it has been known since 1858, boasts a long and proud tradition of agricultural promotion.

The first event they hosted was staged in September 1793, consisting of a ploughing match near the Red Lion Inn in Truro. The following year saw prizes for livestock being added to the awards on offer. 

Although being based in Bodmin from 1793 to around 1827, competitions were often also held in various other parts of the county. From 1827 to 1857, the annual show saw Truro as its home.  

Truro was by then very much the fashionable centre of Cornish life but in 1858 the association turned nomadic, staging the annual show in the east and west of Cornwall in alternate years.

This year also saw the addition of Royal to the association's title along with a royal patronage from Queen Victoria, with past patrons including King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II.

Apart from breaks during the two wars, the show was to be staged on the alternate basis until 1960 when the Royal Cornwall Showground at Wadebridge became its permanent home where it remains until this day.

Every year since then, apart from in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, the permanent showground is transformed into a bustling village for three days in June. Last year’s event saw 118,000 visitors through the gates. 

AS one of the finest open-air arenas in the country, the Main Ring of the Royal Cornwall Show is the place to be for edge-of-your-seat excitement.

Across the three days of the show, there is a non-stop timetable for of exciting and colourful acts and presentations.

Whether you are watching a breath-taking stunt show, or admiring a parade of our prize-winning livestock, it is the perfect place to take a break, grab an ice cream, and enjoy the entertainment.

Day 1: Thursday, June 6 

8am: Riding Horses followed by Ridden Hacks 

8am: Ridden Cobs followed by Maxi Cobs 

10am: Show Jumping Class A - The Rosevean Veterinary Grade 'C' Jumping Competition 

11.20am: PKF Francis Clark Driving Competitions 

12.30am: Show Jumping Class B - The South West Loos Cornish Open & Senior 1.35m Open 

1.30pm: The Cycling Farmer and the Forager 

1.45pm: JCB Dancing Diggers 

2.15pm: Battle of Britain Memorial Hurricane Flypast 

2.20pm: The Cornwall Airport Newquay Shetland Pony Grand National 

2.50pm: RAF Falcons 

3.20pm: Parade of First Day Prize Winning Horses 

4pm: Massed Parade of Hounds 

5.30pm: The Kernow Vet Group Inter Hunt Relay 

6.30pm: Show Jumping Class C - The 1.25m Open 

Day 2: Friday, June 7 

8am: Ridden Arabs 

8am: World Breed Horses 

10.45am: PKF Francis Clark Driving Competitions 

11am: Show Jumping Class D -The Grand Prix 

12.30pm: JCB Dancing Diggers 

1pm: RAF Falcons 

1.30pm: The Cornwall Airport Newquay Shetland Pony Grand National 

2pm: Parade of Second Day Prize winning Horses & Ponies 

2.45pm: Grand Parade of Cattle, Sheep & Goats 

3.40pm: Massed Parade of Hounds 

5.10pm: The Kernow Vet Group Inter Hunt Relay 

6.20pm: Show Jumping Class E - The NSR Communications Open Accumulator 

7pm: Show Jumping Class F - The Royal Cornwall Mini Major Competition 

Day 3: Saturday, June 8 

8.15am: Show Jumping Class G - The Foot Anstey National 1.30m Open 

9.45am: Heavy Horses 

9.45am: Miniature Horses 

11.30am: Show Jumping Class H - The Penmellyn Equine Vets Area Trial 

12.30pm: RAF Falcons 

1.15pm: JCB Dancing Diggers 

2.15pm: The Cornwall Airport Newquay Shetland Pony Grand National 

2.45pm: Grand Parade of Cattle, Sheep & Goats 

3.30pm: Parade of Third Day Prize Winning Horses & Ponies 

4.15pm: Massed Parade of Hounds 

5.45pm: Cornish Mascot Challenge 

6.00pm: The Kernow Vet Group Inter Hunt Relay 

7.15pm: Show closes