The Great Yorkshire Show (GYS) is an

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, breed ...

which takes place on the Great Yorkshire Showground in

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

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

in the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

annually from the second Tuesday of July until the following Thursday. It is organised and run by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS). Since the demise of the Royal Show the GYS has been the largest agricultural show in England, however within the UK it is surpassed by both the

Royal Welsh Show The Royal Welsh Show ( cy, Sioe Frenhinol Cymru) is organised by the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, which was formed in 1904. It takes place in July of each year, at Llanelwedd, near Builth Wells, in Powys, Mid Wales. The first show was hel ...

and the

Royal Highland Show The Royal Highland Show is Scotland's biggest annual Agricultural show. The show is organised by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. Held annually in June at the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston, the event attracts ove ...

. The show is highly successful and the Society generated income of £9.6 million in 2016. A new Hall at the showground, costing £11 million, opened in 2016 and produced more than £1 million of income in its first year.

History

The history of the GYS is intimately connected with that of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS). * 1837: The YAS was founded; its primary aim was stated as "... to hold an Annual Meeting for the Exhibition of Farming Stock, Implements &c., and for the General Promotion of Agriculture." * 1838: The first YAS Show was held in the Barrack Yard at Fulford, near

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

. The numbers attending were not recorded, but the event was counted a success; police had to use their

baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of club *Baton (law enforcement) *Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *Baton (conductin ...

s to restore order among the large numbers of visitors when they began to force their way in without paying. * Originally intended as a

peripatetic Peripatetic may refer to: *Peripatetic school, a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece *Peripatetic axiom * Peripatetic minority, a mobile population moving among settled populations offering a craft or trade. *Peripatetic Jats There are several ...

event, the Show moved to

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

Northallerton Northallerton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton District of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It had a population of 16,832 in the 2011 census, an increase ...

and

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

in subsequent years. * 1842: The show returned to York. This is the first year for which attendance figures are available — the Show in 1842 had a paid attendance of 6,044.Quoted attendance figures are for "paid attendance". This does not include attendance by members of the YAS as members are entitled to free entry to the Show By 1843 the YAS Show had become known as the "Great Yorkshire Show", apparently by popular acclamation rather than in any official sense. * The GYS continued to be held in various places around

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

until 1950. * 1915–1919: Cancelled due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. * 1920: The GYS was held jointly with the

Royal Agricultural Society of England The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) promotes the scientific development of English agriculture. It was established in 1838 with the motto "Practice with Science" and received its Royal Charter from Queen Victoria in 1840. RASE is bas ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. * 1931: Huddersfield *1933: The GYS was held in Marton in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. * 1940–1948: Cancelled due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. * 1948: By now the YAS was coming to the conclusion that the expenses involved in setting up a new showground every year were becoming prohibitive. * 1949: It was decided that a permanent showground be acquired. * 1950: The last peripatetic show, in Malton. The YAS bought a site at Hook Oval in Harrogate for £16,500. * 1951: From here on, Hook Oval in Harrogate has been the permanent site for the GYS. The 1951 the attendance figure was nearly 54,000. * 2001: Cancelled due to 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, followe ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. * 2006: The most successful show so far in terms of attendance figures, with 135,111 visitors. * 2008: The show was attended by

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

to celebrate the 150th occasion on which the Show had been held. * 2011: The show came close to the record with 135,086 visitors. *2012: This show (the 154th) was cancelled on Tuesday 10 July 2012 after only one day, due to exceptional rain which had made the showground car parks unsafe. Organisers stated that the decision had been taken "reluctantly". This was the first cancellation due to weather. (Earlier cancellations had been due to war or foot and mouth disease.) An old

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...

towed

horse trailer A horse trailer or horse van (also called a horse float in Australia and New Zealand or horsebox in the British Isles) is used to transport horses. There are many different designs, ranging in size from small units capable of holding two or thre ...

s out of muddy ground. *2017: The show was held on Tuesday 11 – Thursday 13 July 2017. This was the 159th show. *2018: This was the 160th show and was held on Tuesday 10 – Thursday 12 July 2018. *2020: The show (the 162nd), which would have been held on the Tuesday 14 - Thursday 16 July 2020, was cancelled on Monday 23 March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. This is the first show to be fully cancelled since 2001.

Showground

The Great Yorkshire Showground is situated off Railway Road, on the outskirts of

. The site is in area, and consists mainly of grassland with several permanent structures. These include * Main

grandstand A grandstand is a normally permanent structure for seating spectators. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap a ...

and show-ring * Country Pursuits arena (featuring

Hound A hound is a type of hunting dog used by hunters to track or chase prey. Description Hounds can be contrasted with gun dogs that assist hunters by identifying prey and/or recovering shot quarry. The hound breeds were the first hunting dogs. T ...

s and

Birds of Prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predators ...

) * Flower Show * "White Rose" grandstand and show-ring * Housing for

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

and other

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

* Multi-purpose conference and exhibition halls (known as the "Yorkshire Event Centre") * Dining and function facilities (known as "Pavilions of Harrogate") * Office accommodation for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, which has its headquarters at the showground The showground facilities are used all the year round for various functions and events ranging from the Great Yorkshire Show to

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

s fairs,

trade show A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...

business conference A convention, in the sense of a meeting, is a gathering of individuals who meet at an arranged place and time in order to discuss or engage in some common interest. The most common conventions are based upon industry, profession, and fandom. ...

s and

wedding reception A wedding reception is a party usually held after the completion of a marriage ceremony as hospitality for those who have attended the wedding, hence the name reception: the couple ''receive'' society, in the form of family and friends, for t ...

s. It is estimated that one million people visit the showground per year.

Notes

References

* Hall, Vance (1987). ''A History of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society 1837—1987''. London: Batsford. {{ISBN, 978-0-7134-5783-4

External links

GYS websiteYorkshire film archive: Great Yorkshire show 1957Great Yorkshire Show on ITV Local YorkshireGreat Yorkshire Show on FlickrYorkshire Agricultural SocietyFalconry UK Ltd. at the Great Yorkshire Show
Agricultural shows in Yorkshire Events in Harrogate Tourist attractions in Harrogate Festivals established in 1838 Events in Yorkshire 1838 establishments in England