Great Yorkshire Show is a sell-out in 165th year

Visitors will be treated to demonstrations of farming, food and fashion over the four-day event

The Great Yorkshire Show will welcome tens of thousands of people through its gates over the next four days after all tickets sold out in advance.

The 165th edition of the annual agricultural show in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, begins on Tuesday and visitors have been promised a mix of farming, food and fashion.

Thousands of animals - including cattle, sheep, pigs and horses - will compete in breed shows and classes.

There will also be sheep shearing, a military band and talks from TV presenters Helen Skelton, Adam Henson and Peter Wright from Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet.

Generations of involvement

One family who have been exhibiting at the show for more than six decades are the Triffits, who live in Acaster Selby, near York.

They will return this year, showing classic pig breeds such as British Lops and Gloucestershire Old Spots.

Trisha Horsley (nee Triffit) said: "I have always shown, right from being little, my father, grandfather showed and I just tagged along, it was a big family thing.

"My children and the grandchildren have just followed on."

The Triffit family with some of their prize pigs

She said her grandfather Joseph Triffit was a butcher in Fulford and Wetherby when he started showing his Middle White pigs.

"It started with the Middle Whites, they have always been the predominant breed for them, and it has just carried on."

Mrs Horsley is the British Pig Association (BPA) representative for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and is a judge.

Her grandson, 13-year-old Alfie Holding, will be one of the family members showing this year.

He took first prize for his Old Spots and Large Blacks last year and will be one to watch this year in a number of classes, including the Young Handlers.

Thousands of animals will compete in national breed shows and judging rings

Travel disruption

Traffic in Harrogate is always heavy during Show week and non-visitors are advised to seek alternative routes.

The A661 Wetherby Road will be one-way from the Kestrel Roundabout to the junction with Rudding Lane towards the Showground from 06:30 BST on Show days. The one-way system has also been extended on the A658 towards Harrogate from the Thistle Hill junction (turn off to Knaresborough) to the Kestrel roundabout. This will be for mornings only from 06:30 BST.

This will be reversed on Wetherby Road at 14:00 BST between Rudding Lane and the Kestrel Roundabout to accommodate traffic leaving Harrogate. This will remain in force until 21:00 BST and the restrictions may be removed earlier depending on the volume of traffic.

All tickets have been sold with none available on the gate, organisers Yorkshire Agriculture Society have said.

The show was always held over three days, but increased to four to comply with Covid safety measures in 2021.

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