One of the most celebrated agricultural shows marks a milestone anniversary.
The Princess Royal is the special guest at the 160th Great Yorkshire Show this month. She arrives on Wednesday, July 11th and will meet officials, competitors and exhibitors at the Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate. Princess Anne has visited the show a number of times, most recently in 2014, and will be hosted by show director Charles Mills. ‘We are honoured by her visit and it is always wonderful to welcome a visitor with such a genuine interest in farming and the countryside,’ he said. ‘We will be able to show the princess some of the best animals in the country as well as the very best of rural life, food and farming.’
The farming and countryside showcase which takes place July 10th-12th is expected to welcome about 130,000 visitors over the three days to see competitive classes, ranging from cattle to poultry and from international show jumping to cheese. There are also 1,200 stands, one of the biggest outdoor shopping events of the year.
Television series Countryfile presenter Anita Rani takes to the catwalk at the show. Bradford-born Anita, who has also presented Watchdog, This Morning and was a huge hit on Strictly Come Dancing, will be helping to showcase some of the latest country wear fashions and high-end new designs. The Kuoni Catwalk will be held each day and there will be a one-off celebrity special starring Anita plus a host of local television personalities, at 2.30pm on Tuesday, July 10th.
Luxury travel company Kuoni are in the John Lewis store in Leeds, and Anita will be dressed by the personal styling team based there. Audiences will see a preview of the new John Lewis autumn winter 2018 collection on the catwalk, before it goes into stores later in the year. Anita said: ‘As a proud Yorkshire lass I am really looking forward to being part of the Great Yorkshire Show and swapping the wellies I often wear on Countryfile for something a little more stylish. I loved some of the outfits on Strictly and although I’m a little nervous about being on a catwalk, it’s feels very glamorous to be showing off some of the latest fashion trends.’
Anita will also head for the Great Yorkshire Show kitchen where a celebrity chef will be cooking up her favourite dish and she will be taking questions from the audience.
Yorkshire-based tailors, Brook Taverner will showcase their now famous Yorkshire Agricultural Society jackets made from tweed woven by another Yorkshire firm, Abraham Moon & Sons. Charles Mills added: ‘We are absolutely delighted to welcome Anita Rani to the Great Yorkshire Show and to have Kuoni’s support for the fashion show. There’s so much going on all over the 250 acres of the showground throughout the three days and the Kuoni Catwalk shows it’s not just about farming life and animals, there really is something for everyone.’
The fashion show is co-ordinated by Bernadette Gledhill of Morton Geldhill and backstage the hair and make-up with be styled by students from the White Rose Beauty Colleges from across Yorkshire.
Two unique historical projects will celebrate the Great Yorkshire Show’s 160th anniversary at this year’s event. The Yorkshire Film Archive and Washburn Heritage Centre have both created special displays highlighting farming down the years and earlier Great Yorkshire Shows.
Film of previous Great Yorkshire Shows put together by the Yorkshire Film Archive’s team will be screened on the President’s Lawn. The specially-curated short films will also be shown on the big screen in the main ring and in the Exhibition Room at the Yorkshire Event Centre.
Yorkshire Film Archive manager Graham Relton said: ‘We scoured the millions of footage in our vaults to uncover the really iconic and most engaging material on both Yorkshire agriculture and the Great Yorkshire Show over the last 100 years.
‘Using both professional and amateur footage we have created a number of packages especially for the Great Yorkshire Show audiences. The show has changed massively over the years but captured in the frames of celluloid preserved at the Yorkshire Film Archive are images that remind us how in some ways it has remained very much the same and I am sure these images will really resonate with the audience at the show.’
The Washburn Heritage Centre at Fewston has also put together a special exhibition of historical farming scenes. The award-winning centre at Fewston Church promotes the unique heritage of the valley. It is run mainly by volunteers and has an extensive programme of events and exhibitions .
Archive leader Deborah Power, together with a team from the centre, has created a series of interpretive panels, both on farming in the Washburn Valley and on the show itself. Nine of the boards feature the show, taking different themes such as agricultural machinery through the years and, to mark 100 years of female emancipation this year, there is a look at the role of women in agriculture.
Yorkshire Life, a supporter of the show for at least 70 years, welcomes readers and visitors to its stand. There is the opportunity to meet artist and our interiors contributor Heather Burton as well as enter a competition to win a luxury hamper plus take advantage of some fantastic magazine subscription offers. See you there.
