{"id":62674,"date":"2026-06-09T14:05:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T13:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/?p=62674"},"modified":"2026-06-09T14:07:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T13:07:25","slug":"58th-south-of-england-show-attracts-bumper-crowds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/2026\/06\/09\/58th-south-of-england-show-attracts-bumper-crowds\/","title":{"rendered":"58th South of England Show attracts bumper crowds"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The South of England Show returned to the South of England Showground in Ardingly, West Sussex, last week,\u00a0attracting tens of thousands of visitors for a three-day celebration of agriculture, equestrian sport, rural life and countryside entertainment.<\/p>

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Now in its 58th<\/sup> year, the much-loved event, despite the weekend\u2019s mixed weather conditions, once again brought together farmers, producers, competitors, exhibitors, families and countryside enthusiasts from across the region.<\/p>

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With more than 200 things to see and do, visitors enjoyed a packed programme of displays, demonstrations and hands-on activities. Highlights included this year\u2019s headline act, the Squibb Freestyle Stunt Team, who thrilled crowds with their high-energy motocross stunts, alongside traditional favourites including the livestock competitions, top-level showjumping, rural crafts, falconry, gundog displays, fishing demonstrations and vintage agricultural machinery.<\/p>

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The livestock section proved as popular as ever, with cattle, sheep, pigs and goats on display, as well as the traditional Livestock Parade in the main ring on Sunday. Visitors also had the chance to watch a mock cattle auction and learn more about beef cuts through expert talks.<\/p>

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Equestrian sport remained a major draw across all three days, with showjumping, the inter-hunt relay, scurry driving, qualifying classes for the London International Horse Show, the Hackney Horse competition and the ever-popular Shetland Pony Grand National.<\/p>

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Away from the arenas, the show offered plenty for families to enjoy. The Discover the Countryside area featured the opportunity to milk Clover, the model cow, as well as demonstrations of wool spinning and weaving, stick-making, and blacksmithing. Children also enjoyed the interactive activity trail, free cookery workshops and the fun and games of the Sheep Show.<\/p>

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Visitors could also step back into the 15th century with medieval reenactments from The Hartley Company, while food and drink lovers headed to the Food Hall to sample regional produce, wines, beers and gins. Shoppers explored the hundreds of trade stands, offering everything from artisan crafts to countryside-inspired goods, and accompanied by live music from Casablanca Steps at the show\u2019s Bandstand.<\/p>

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Horticultural displays, plant nurseries, the garden design competition and the Bees & Honey Marquee added further colour to the event, with live bee demonstrations celebrating local production.<\/p>

A new addition to the 2026 event was the Living Land Theatre, a two-day programme which brought together farmers, advisors, educators and rural professionals. This gave visitors the opportunity to hear from and network with land-based professionals, speak directly to educators, and take part in discussions and workshops addressing some of the current challenges facing agriculture, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive, skills for the next generation, promoting careers in farming, and diversification.<\/p>

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The Living Land Theatre also featured the South of England Agricultural Society Technical Forum, \u2018Smarter Decisions, Stronger Margins\u2019, which examined what it takes to run a high-performing farm business.<\/p>

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Corrie Ince, Show Director for the South of England Agricultural Society, said:<\/p>

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\u201cIt was fantastic to welcome so many people to this year\u2019s South of England Show and to see the Showground so full of energy, enthusiasm and support across all three days.<\/p>

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\u201cWhile the show is a much-loved day out, it also plays an important role in helping the Society deliver its wider remit. As a registered charity, we are committed to supporting agricultural education, countryside learning and the future of land-based industries across the South East, from school visits and hands-on learning initiatives to grants, bursaries, awards and training opportunities. Events like the South of England Show give us a valuable opportunity to bring that work to life. They help people of all ages connect with farming, food production, rural skills and the people who are so vital to our countryside communities.<\/p>

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\u201cWe are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped make the 58th South of England Show such a success, including our exhibitors, competitors, stewards, volunteers, sponsors, visitors and wider show team.\u201d<\/p>

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The Society\u2019s next event, the Autumn Show & Horse Trials, takes place at the South of England Showground on Saturday 26th<\/sup> and Sunday 27th<\/sup> September 2026. The two-day event will feature the 50th<\/sup> anniversary South of England International Horse Trials with elite equestrian competition across dressage, showjumping and cross-country, alongside countryside activities, dog displays and have-a-go attractions, harvest celebrations, farm animals, traditional rural skills, food, drink and shopping. For more information or to book tickets, visit\u00a0www.seas.org.uk<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>

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\u00a0 The South of England Show returned to the South of England Showground in Ardingly, West Sussex, last week,\u00a0attracting tens of thousands of visitors for a three-day celebration of agriculture, equestrian sport, rural life and countryside entertainment. \u00a0 Now in its 58th year, the much-loved event, despite the weekend\u2019s mixed weather conditions, once again brought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":62675,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1366],"tags":[],"directory-category":[],"event_categories":[],"class_list":["post-62674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family-fun-events"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 00:38:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62674"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62682,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62674\/revisions\/62682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62674"},{"taxonomy":"directory-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory-category?post=62674"},{"taxonomy":"event_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefamilygrapevine.co.uk\/midsussex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event_categories?post=62674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}