Countryside Live is the sister event of the annual farming and rural showcase, the

Great Yorkshire Show The Great Yorkshire Show (GYS) is an agricultural show which takes place on the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, North Yorkshire in the North of England annually from the second Tuesday of July until the following Thursday. It is organi ...

. Held each October at the Great Yorkshire Showground in the town of

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa w ...

, England, the two-day event is designed to act as a shop window for the farming industry and is open to the public. The show has been organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society every year since it was first held in 2001. There are competitive classes for cattle, sheep, poultry, pigeons, horses, ponies, and pigs. The region’s Young Farmers' Club take an active part in the show, organising a

Tug of War Tug of war (also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war, rope pulling, or tugging war) is a sport that pits two teams against each other in a test of strength: teams pull on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal being to bring the rope a certa ...

championship and stock judging competitions. There are demonstrations of country skills such as

dry stone wall Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction m ...

ing and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

. Around the site is a wide range of stands selling local food and drink. Other attractions include a fruit and vegetable show, honey show, dog agility, hands-on activities for children, Diggerland, archery, and ferret racing. Graham & Tina Fletcher also search for the next Talented Show Jumper, where young riders compete for the title in the indoor Show Jumping Arena.

History

Countryside Live began in 2001 and has been held annually since then. The first event was launched after the outbreak of

Foot and Mouth disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, follow ...

2008

In 2008, equine classes were added to the program and have proved popular. Demonstrations of horsemanship and show jumping master classes are given by ex-Olympic equestrian Graham Fletcher and his wife, Tina, an International Show Jumper.

2009

The 2009 show, held on 24 and 25 October, introduced several new competitive classes. These included

farriery A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of horses' hooves and the placing of shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabricating, adapting, and adju ...

, classes for both modern and traditional breeds of pigs, and classes for novice horse riders.

2010

In 2010, a record crowd of 10,221 visitors attended the event. Over all there were 226 entries in the

equine Equinae is a subfamily of the family Equidae, which have lived worldwide (except Indonesia and Australia) from the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene (16 million years ago) onwards. They are thought to be a monophyletic grouping.B. J. Ma ...

section. The two-day event took place on 23 and 24 October 2010.

2011

The show hosted the "Festival of British Fruit" in 2011. This is an annual event that was also in its ninth year. The MardenFruit Society, located in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, organises the event, which is held in a different location each year. More than 25 varieties of

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

s and nine varieties of

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

s were on display, and visitors were encouraged to vote for their favourite, though the final selection of "Britain's Tastiest Apple" was made by a panel of experts. Graham and Tina Fletcher judged the yearly hunt for a young show-jumping star, and the environmental organisation BTCV, now

The Conservation Volunteers The Conservation Volunteers (TCV) is a British community volunteering charity focused on environmental conservation through practical tasks undertaken by volunteers. Until 1 May 2012, it traded as BTCV – British Trust for Conservation Volunte ...

, handed a tiny tree to everyone who attended the show. ''The StoryBarn'' and a farmyard experience area were two special locations for the benefit of young children. Around 10,700 people attended the performance.

2012

Countryside Live celebrated its tenth annual anniversary in 2012, when the show was attended by 12,601 visitors. The show was welcomed by the agricultural community, as the Great Yorkshire Show had been cancelled earlier in the year due to heavy rain and flooding. In order to attract visitors, a number of new events were added to the programme. These included the final of the Northern Show Cross horse-riding event. The junior novice event was won by a 14-year-old girl from

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, while the senior novice event was won by a 74-year-old man from

Monk Fryston Monk Fryston is a small village and civil parish in the Selby district of North Yorkshire, England. The village was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. History and overview The ''Dictionary of British Place Names'' n ...

. The event consists of traditional show jumping and cross-country jumps. Other first-time events at the show included a mountain biking demonstration to show the importance of riding bikes responsibly in the countryside, an appearance by Carol and Phillip Mellin and their sheepdog Jess, from the ITV television programme ''The Dales''; and the

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate. History Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...

Horticultural Society’s Flower and Vegetable show, which attracted over 70 entries. In addition, the

Rare Breeds Survival Trust The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1973 by Joe Henson to pres ...

attended the show for the first time. They are a conservation charity aiming to prevent the extinction of native farm-animal breeds. There were more than 3,000 entries in the sheep and cattle classes, an increase from the 400 entries at the first show in 2001.

2013

The 11th annual event will be held on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October 2013. New for 2013 are Private Driving Arena Trials (Sat only) and the return of the Northern Show Cross Final (Sat only).

References

{{Reflist

External links

Countryside Live website
Agricultural shows in Yorkshire Events in Harrogate 2001 establishments in England Festivals established in 2001