Over 22,000 visitors see Smallholder and Garden Festival
Tim Wilson, of The Plant Lovers, being presented with the Best in Show crystal for his stand in the Floral Hall by Lucinda Dargavel, the Royal Welsh Lady Ambassador.
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society’s Smallholder and Garden Festival has again demonstrated its popularity as a spring weekend event by attracting 22,258 visitors to the showground at Llanelwedd, Builth Wells. The attendance fell just short of last year’s total (23,318) in spite of the combined deterrents of the recession and extremely wet weather.
This was the ninth Festival to be staged by the RWAS and thanks to the large exhibition halls and extensive covered space on the showground much of the event was impervious to the elements.
“However, the weather was a disappointment and it must have deterred many people from making the journey to Llanelwedd,” said Royal Welsh Assistant Company Secretary, Caron W Evans.
“Despite that, the main halls looked very impressive and the Green Horizons exhibition in particular attracted a great deal of interest this year with lots of interaction between the stand holders and visitors seeking technical information about environmental issues and how they can utilise natural resources and reduce their carbon footprint.
“The Food Hall was very popular and Speakers’ Corner, Gardeners’ Question Time, the workshops for children and the Dance Festival were well supported. We have had numerous positive comments from visitors who enjoyed the Festival and who said they will be coming back next year.”
The Festival included classes and displays for rare and traditional breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats and there were llamas and alpacas, poultry, pets, demonstrations covering bees, woodland crafts, farriery, farm machinery and equipment and vintage machinery, and magnificent and colourful displays of flowers and garden produce among the 350 trade stands on the showground.
There was keen competition and interest in the sections. The sheep supreme championship was awarded to a Southdown ram exhibited by J R Williams of Ceredigion, and the pig supreme champion was a Welsh gilt bred by Mrs C Vaughan from Warwickshire. A giant Schnauzer owned by Mrs George, of Cardiff, won the Best in Show in the Premier Open Dog Show and a large and diverse selection of cacti, displayed by The Plant Lovers, from Lancashire, were overall winners with their stand in the Floral Hall.
The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society is delighted to have successfully staged its first event in 2009 and is busy preparing and looking forward to the Royal Welsh Show on July 20 – July 23.