West of England Show what will make county shows better for visitors and competitors.

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rushyj

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After much work and time there will at last be the very first West of England Show in 2011... All the usual features will be there but we want to know your feedback please as a competitor in showing or showjumping. What do you feel county and big agricultural shows are getting right or wrong? We want to get it right from the outset so really need and want your feedback.

Please either PM me on here or visit

www.wiltshirecountyshow.co.uk and email us.. (Please note the show wont be called the Wiltshire County Show but the West of England Show and the web address will change due to the similarity in name with another show..)

The venue is to be confirmed at the end of next week and will be a blank canvas so your imput really will count.
 
Bump. I love county shows, i love the diversity of what is on offer, from light horse, heavy horse, tradestands, cattle, sheep, goats ....I just love the whole atmosphere, although it has to be said I do spend more than my fair share of time on the local producer-type food tents! It saddens me terribly to see the decline of these shows, I can't offer any reasonable explanation for it!
 
i looove the food tents!! i live for food! i think the price of goi g these events are getting stupidly high, i spent £20 alone just to get into bath and west, i could have spent and extra fiver and gone to badminton! i think the only thing id say about bath and west was the set up, they had to put barriers across a walkway for the cattle to get across to the main ring, one bull got loose and could have quite easily injured the crowed, so better organisation of ring set ups. never competed at one so dont have any views for the competitors side but will compete there being from somerset ,if there are any classes to suit my horse.
 
Thats exciting news. My nearest County Show is the New Forest which is always a bit special as an annual event. However, it would be great to have another county show that we could possibly compete at without being so far away. My only input at this stage would be please put in some amateur classes or novice so that it's not just about the same pro's all the time. I take it there will be traditional cob classes? Put them in the main ring!!! You've certainly got your work cut out but it's great that a new show is being created in a time when some have disappeared. Was there ever a Wiltshire County Show in times past?
 
Hello thanks for the replies. Yes there is a Wiltshire County Show held at Barbury Horse Trials but it is showjumping only. we are doing the whole range similar to the Royal Show.

There will be a Food Hall for all the british and regional food producers as that is a fav of everyone. And I agree there needs to be amature and novice classes. We really want it to be a highlight for the West so doing a Pre Show Masquerade Ball to kick it all off.

With regards to the arenas and set up. We are lucky enough to be working on a completely blank canvass (rather than an older showground) so we are building it from the competitors point of view and then everything else falls into place after that.

And of course the hairies get a main arena slot :)
 
If you were thinking of doing showjumping could you do junior/pony showjumping as there never is any on and most country shoes only do it for seniors, so it would be nice if the juniors could jump too :)
 
My only contribution would be making sure that there are walkways for horses/animals separated from the public... It's always a nightmare to make your way from the stables/lorry park through all the trade stands and viewing/public areas.
 
Sounds like a great idea, it would be nice to be able to go to more shows that are local Bath and West is so expensive now to get into, took my youngster and some friends came with me had to pay extra £38 for the kids to get in. Def make sure horses can walk without going through trade stands etc. And have a good option of showing classes as well as jumping etc and driving classes.
 
You should have an inter-hunt relay (and not just cause I'm biased and love doing them!!). The recent one at the 3 counties in Malvern was very well supported, and the other local ones (Herefordshire county show and Frampton mainly) are fantastic fun and great to watch too, always have big crowds. Teams will come from miles to compete also, we're even travelling up to Chester next weekend to compete there in one (from Worcestershire/Gloucestershire!)
Getting local societies and groups (young farmers, competitions, etc) involved is also a good way of getting support. Young farmers take their competitions very seriously!

Looks to be a good show - looking forward to seeing where it will be held!
 
Aside from what's already mentioned, I like the pre-buy bargain ticket - buy in advance and it's several ££ cheaper, making the cost affordable. Also to encourage visitors children under 5 or 8 or even 10 free is good. I know it costs ££ to put on, but the ££ to get in is sooo off putting. I also look out for offers in the local papers - good for pre-publicity.

From a spectators POV, I know that even the non-horsey do like to watch mounted games and kids jumping or the fun stuff eg scurry driving or scurry jumping or horse and hound even if they find adult boring - maybe if you could have a series of qualifiers for specific classes eg scurry jumping or mini puissance for under 12s or something like that, and persuade local shows that already run similar classes to run them as qualifiers and hold the final at your show?

A good food hall with local food suppliers always goes down well - could you set aside an area of the food hall for local to Wilts?

Set realistic maximum prices for caterers on site (that are publicised in the programme) - we don't really want to pay £2.50 for a cup of tea, or £2.50 for a can of coke that would be 48p in the local Tescos.

At Royal Berks show there are 2 things (other than the food hall ) I always like looking at. Firstly the Schools marquee - am sure they do this as a loss leader to get the schools involved, ergo attendance up. Each school does a display of their work on a theme, and it's all in a big marquee (which I think is often 'sponsored by' someone or other or a big firm). Secondly they have a farriers competition, with grandstand seating to sit and watch them make their shoes and put them on. Always a coffee/food/ice cream near by so you can put your feet up and watch in comfort.

Decent signage to get to the event, adequate parking ideally with a free bus to the site if its a long walk. Good system for rubbish bins - plenty of them so they don't overflow or at least emptied regularly + litter pickers. Good sign posting so you can find your way about (sponsored by an estate agent might be easy to do) , and above all proper flushing toliet blocks regularly attended to so there is water to wash sticky hands, as well as no shortage of loo roll!
 
This is all great thank you so much.. Too many to quote all but they have all been noted down.. Re the walkways I totally agree.. We have put a large amount of time into working out how to set out the warm ups and collecting rings etc. and I know it takes up ground but i think this is a must. Dedicated walk ways for the horses to get to the rings safely and not to forget the livestock are essential...
 
Forgot to say the food halls will be split into 2 halls one for regional food from the west and the other for national and international food producers and importers. Also re the competitions thank you for the suggestions. We were planning to do a mini "it's a knockout" series over the 3 days with the young farmers competing also inter hunt is a fantastic idea thank you... :)
 
Something that would be different at an English County Show would be some harness racing - the only "show" which includes us is the Royal Welsh where they have 3 display races - 2 heats and a final on the Tuesday evening. We'd love to have a "local" event to support, currently our nearest race meeting is nearly 2 hours away.
 
my view on all shows be it horse/ car / boat/ shows ect, is entry cost are way to high, you are only looking at what is going on not taking part,,also people who are on the dole or tax credits or have large familys just can't aford to pay these high prices to get in, which means the kids loose out and do not see all the fun also the food is way to highly priced aswell,

children should not be charge for until they are 16 just like public transport.

sorry rant going on
 
One of the nicest things I have seen is live music and a picnic area with a some chairs and tables near the catering. You could have some local bands, but include some cross generational\easy on the ear stuff too i.e. Jazz, Piano bar type thing. Its really nice to sit and enjoy your lunch and listen to a good tune.

Definately echo what others have said about ticket prices. The more you spend to get in the less you have to spend on stuff.
 
Also forgot to mention, that get local organisations involved too for volunteering.

At the Bath and West the Girl Guides provide a runner and messenger service, infact they do all sorts including holding signs in the parades, escorting VIP's, helping judges etc. The show feeds them (they get vouchers for the food stands) and the Girls (+ Leaders!) get to camp on site for the duration. The kids love it, cos the camp is free and they get to go to the show and mingle with the animals and look at everything in their spare time. The show gets lots of volunteers (we had 100+ there this year). The show loves it cos they are well behaved and work hard doing all those little jobs that run you ragged if you are organising it.
 
I echo what's been said about walkways. Leicester county used to be a nightmare parking wise, higgledy piggledy lorries parked at angles, blocking one another in, then you had to walk miles to the collecting rings, through the general public at times.

Also about prices. Bump what you charge the trade stands, and cut what you charge the public. More people in spend more money. The trade stands will make up their losses that way.

The order across the field should be lorry park, competition area, trade stands, car park. Keep the public out of the lorry park and collecting rings.

A small local show does a bit of everything. Show jumping, gymkhana, showing classes, sheep, cattle, goats, driving, tractors. Then there's a few trade stands, and a hunt display. They're on a tiny field (literally a borrowed field!) and manage it quite well. The lorry park's away from the public and they have walkways too. They only ever profit about £300 for charity, so it is possible to do on a budget.
 
I agree re charges to the public but this is a tricky one due to the massive overheads and space available to shows. from this point of view the answer to nearly all the factors effecting shows is essentially space. The more space available the more stands and the lower costs to the public etc. We have this well inhand and will be doing all we can to keep costs down.
 
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