Please stick with us
Last updated 08:49, Friday, 22 August 2008
IT is difficult to explain to those who have never been involved in the organisation of an agricultural show or country fair just how stressful it is.
I am the secretary of the Lakeland Country Fair at Torver, which was to have taken place last Sunday; it is the first time the event has ever been cancelled, but the committee simply had no choice but to call it off, as the fields were waterlogged and the forecast for the days running up to the event was for yet more heavy rain.
All these shows take place on agricultural land, and the farmers simply cannot afford to have their fields ruined. Also there is a real public safety issue when the ground turns into a sea of mud, and under such circumstances it would be irresponsible to go ahead.
If a show has to be cancelled many people suffer – the stallholders, many of whom try to make a living at the shows, the firms which hire out marquees, toilets, public address equipment etc, wrestlers and runners, livestock and dog owners and, of course, the general public.
Changing the dates of shows is also not so simple; over the years a programme of show dates has evolved which avoids clashes between events, and if a show changes it can have repercussions on others.
I don’t think there is an easy answer to the problem. All I would say is this: please understand our problems and keep supporting your country shows, as without them we would all be the poorer.
ALISON BOLT
Secretary, Lakeland Country Fair
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