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 Friday. It is organise ...

. It is held during October, at the Great Yorkshire Showground in the town of

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and civil parish in the North Yorkshire District, district and North Yorkshire, county of North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist de ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The public two-day event is designed to act as a

shop window Shop or shopping may refer to: Business and commerce * A casual word for a commerce , commercial establishment or for a place of business * Machine shop, a workshop for machining *"In the shop", referring to a car being at an Automobile repair sh ...

for the farming industry. 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 Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal 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 d ...

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

pigeons Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...

ponies A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

, and

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

. The region's Young Farmers' Club organises 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 in which two teams compete by pulling on opposite ends of a rope, with the goal of bringing the rope a certain distance in one direction against ...

championship and stock-judging competitions. The site has local food and drink stands.

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 disease, infectious and sometimes fatal virus (biology), viral disease that primarily affects even-toed ungulates, including domestic and wild Bovidae, bovids. The vir ...

. It has 400 entries in the sheep and cattle classes. In 2008, equine classes were added to the program. Demonstrations of horsemanship and show jumping master classes are given by ex-Olympic equestrian Graham Fletcher and his wife, Tina, an international show jumper. 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 horse, horses' horse hoof, hooves and the placing of horseshoe, shoes on their hooves, if necessary. A farrier combines some blacksmith's skills (fabri ...

, classes for both modern and traditional breeds of pigs, and classes for novice horse riders. In 2010, a record crowd of 10,221 visitors attended the event. Overall, there were 226 entries in the

equine Equinae is a subfamily of the family Equidae, known from the Hemingfordian stage of the Early Miocene (16 million years ago) onwards. They originated in North America, before dispersing to every continent except Australia and Antarctica. They are ...

section. The two-day event took place on 23 and 24 October 2010. In 2011, the show hosted the "Festival of British Fruit", organised by The Marden Fruit Society of Kent. The annual event is held in a different location each year. More than 25 varieties of

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

s and nine varieties of

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

s were on display, and visitors were encouraged to vote for their favourite. The final selection of "Britain's Tastiest Apple" is made by a panel of experts. Graham and Tina Fletcher judged the yearly hunt for a young show-jumping star, and the environmental organisation The Conservation Volunteers handed a tiny tree to the show attendants. Around 10,700 people attended the performance. Countryside Live celebrated its tenth annual anniversary in 2012, when the show was attended by 12,601 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, sub ...

, 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 county of North Yorkshire, England. The village was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district of Selby District, Selby, i ...

. The event consists of traditional

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

and cross-country jumps. Other first-time events at the show included a mountain biking demonstration, 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 on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. It is east of Harrogate and was in the Borough of Harrogate until April 2023. History The Knaresborough Hoard, the largest hoard of ...

Horticultural Society's Flower and Vegetable show. In addition, the

Rare Breeds Survival Trust The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation (ethic), 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 b ...

attended the show for the first time. There were more than 3,000 entries in the sheep and cattle classes. The 11th annual event was held on 19 and 20 October 2013, with the return of the Northern Show Cross Final as well as the addition of the new Private Driving Arena Trials.

References

{{Reflist

External links

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