A huge attendance at another great Highland Show

Nearly 200,000 visitors came to the 178th Royal Highland Show at Ingliston.

The four day event ran from 21-24 June, demonstrating the growing appeal, of Scotland’s iconic celebration of farming, food and rural life.

Organised by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), Scotland’s largest event is not only ticking the boxes in supporting Scottish agriculture, it is also displaying its green credentials.

An estimated 160,000 journeys were made on public transport over the four days, a staggering 250,000 toilet flushes used 1.75 million litres of recycled water and 160 tonnes of waste environmentally processed.

The show delivers over £65 million in economic benefit to the UK with visitors expected to have spent around £8 million on shopping at the event.

Reinforcing the importance of the Royal Highland Show on a political level, the event attracted elected key leaders from across the political spectrum including Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Scottish Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell,

Fergus Ewing, the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity and Ruth Davidson, leader of the Conservative Party in Scotland.

RHASS chairman, Jimmy Warnock said: ‘The feedback on this year’s Show has been incredible – yes the weather played its part but overwhelmingly visitors are amazed with the scale and size of the event with every part of the showground brimming with things to see and do for the whole family.

Freddie and Patrick Dodgworth with their dad’s North Country Cheviot

‘We have pushed public transport and arriving seamlessly to the event adds to the overall enjoyment of the day. This is a once in a year opportunity to get face to face with the countryside and we hope we will leave a legacy for families to go out and discover what rural Scotland has to offer beyond the last four days of the Show.

‘Thanks must be given to the volunteers, exhibitors and public who have again supported this event in their thousands – it all goes to ensuring the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland continues its charitable remit to support and showcase the best in food, farming and rural life.’

The Royal Highland Education Trust, the educational arm of RHASS, had another successful Show with over 6,000 children visiting on Thursday and Friday.

An estimated 30,000 are expected to have visited over the four days, with children 15 and admitted to the Show for free.

The Lothians Initiative showcased the Jobfarm project – initiated by the Royal Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland’s 2018 presidential team and led by Sir Crispin Agnew. Its aim was to make young people aware of the wide range of jobs in agriculture, food industries, science and rural businesses by promoting work experience opportunities for young people aged 16 -24.

Final figures for 2018 were (2017 in brackets): Thursday 41,752 (42,934); Friday 51,020 (48,553); Saturday 55,923 (55,825); and Sunday 41,156 (42,816); Total 189,851 (190,128).

The Highland Hall housed over 1000 beef and dairy cattle, with commercial cattle recording their highest number for entries in the last decade, an increase of almost 25%. Sheep entries once again commanded the Show with 2029.

The Young Handler competition had 56 entries, illustrating the continued interest from the next generation particularly in Scotland’s Year of Young People. And an exciting development was the interest in the goat classes; with a ten year high of 39 entries and the Boer breed increasing from 16 to 27.

The exceptional standard of livestock in this year’s competition attracted big names from the judging world, including 41 judges from Scotland, 47 from England, 11 from Wales, 9 from Northern Ireland and one from the Republic of Ireland.

The event has become a nationally recognised showcase for food and drink and Scotland’s Larder Live!, featuring some of the finest food and drink exhibitors from across Scotland and the UK. The Show also staged the Scottish Bread Championships alongside the national Cheese, Butter and Ice Cream Championships.

Sally Nairn from Balnabroich Farm with her Highland cow Sidonia

Award-winning chefs are always a firm favourite of visitors, demonstrated their skills in the Cookery Theatre. These included Tom Lewis, winner of Regional Ambassador for the Central, Fife and Tayside region 2017; Paul Newman, from Aberfeldy, winner, Food & Drink Awards 2018; David Haetzman, winner Restaurant Newcomer of the Year Catering in Scotland Excellence Awards 2017; and Wendy Barrie, Founder & Director award-winning Scottish Food Guide & Scottish Cheese Trail.

The Oxford Farming Conference returned to the Royal Highland Show again this year bringing its famous Oxford Union debate to the MacRobert Shearing Theatre on Thursday. The panel consisted entirely of young people and debated ‘This house believes in paying farmers for more than food?.

Scottish Schools and Youth were also out in force with some amazing young talent on display and visitors were also treated to the Duncan Black Ceilidh Band (2017 Scottish Ceilidh Band of the Year), Jazz, Swing, brass bands, as well as the Royal British Legion Band and the Uddingston & Strathclyde Pipe Band.

Malcolm Buchanan, chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Scottish board, said: ‘The Royal Highland Show is one of the longest continuous partnerships in Royal Bank of Scotland’s history, and this year it once again illustrated why it is one of the country’s greatest events.

‘We have supported the event since 1981 and once again it showcased the very best Scotland has to offer and helped thousands of visitors understand why the agriculture sector is so crucial to the country’s economy.

‘This year, Royal Bank of Scotland also worked with the Scottish Association of Young Farmers at the show to assist a new generation of farmers as they make inroads into the industry and help lead the sector in the years to come.

‘It has been a fantastic four days.’