VIRTUAL FORMAT TAKES GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW GLOBAL
2019_Charles Mills, Show Director of Great Yorkshire Show on the Presidents Balcony at the show. Photography by Richard Walker
A global audience tuned in to watch the first ever Great Yorkshire Virtual Show unfold this week, with the three-day tribute to England’s premier agricultural show attracting viewers from more than 40 countries.
Over 130,000 people would have flocked to the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate for the real Great Yorkshire Show this week but instead the annual flagship event went online to celebrate farming, food and the countryside in a different way.
Supporters of the Great Yorkshire Show embraced its digital incarnation, as people of all ages and from as far away as Japan and New Zealand went online for their show fix.
Hundreds of schoolchildren usually attend the Show but instead some schools chose to broadcast the virtual event to pupils in classrooms.
In total, more than 60 show supporters, from farmers to food businesses and rural craftspeople, contributed their own video footage to create a real, raw and unique experience.
During a packed three-day programme, from Tuesday 14 – Thursday 16 July, viewers were taken into the Yorkshire countryside virtually to see how livestock and crops are farmed, as well as going behind the scenes at rural workplaces to take a look at the arts of horse shoeing, sheep shearing, cheesemaking and much more.
Headline acts included East Yorkshire-based Atkinson Action Horses, whose stunt rider Ben Atkinson filmed a battle stunts training session with one of his horses.
TV chef Rosemary Shrager and top Yorkshire Chef Consultant Stephanie Moon braved Zoom for a raw and frenetic barbecue style cook off using some of the finest Yorkshire ingredients from Fodder farm shop at the Great Yorkshire Showground.
On the final day, a masterful performance was given live on Facebook by sporting soprano Lizzie Jones, who was due to sing in the show’s Main Ring. Her performance was viewed more than 2,200 times within 30 minutes of going live.
The Great Yorkshire Show will be held next year, on Tuesday 13 – Thursday 15 July 2021
