The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Show, usually called the Royal Cornwall Show, is an annual

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, bree ...

organised by the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association, which takes place at the beginning of June, at

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel upstream from Padstow.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The pe ...

in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. The showground is on the south side of the A39 main road and between the hamlets of

St Breock St Breock () is a village and a civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The spelling St Breoke was also formerly in use. Geography St Breock village is 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Wadebridge immediately to the south of the Ro ...

and Whitecross. The show lasts for three days and attracts approximately 120,000 visitors annually.

History

The Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association was founded in 1793, and has been known by that name since 1858. The first event was a ploughing match, held in 1793 near

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

, and the following year prizes for livestock were introduced. While initially held in Truro, the event moved to

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

, then from 1858 the show moved around between locations, before establishing itself at the permanent showgrounds in Wadebridge in 1960. Members of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

often attend the show, including

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

who is a supporter of the farming community and was the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association's patron between 2003 and 2022. Princess Alexandra attended the 2009 show.

Prince William William, Prince of Wales (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982), is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales. William was born during the reign of his p ...

was appointed patron of the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association in 2024. Organisers claim that the Burke Cattle Trophies awarded at the show are the "only true national award" for cattle showing left in the UK.

Business

Businesses with links to agriculture have trade stands at the show, using the opportunity to attract new business as well as to network with current customers.

Social event

The show is attended by people who live in farming communities in

. Events include: * Judging of cattle, sheep, horses, goats and various other domestic animals *

Sheepdog trial A sheepdog trial – also herding event, stock dog trial or simply dog trial — is a competition or test of the working abilities of dogs of herding breeds. It is a type of dog sport that emerged in the 1860s in New Zealand. By the 1870s regul ...

s * Riding competitions * Driving displays *

Falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

* Games and sports * Craft show * Live music * The culmination of the county cup for the Cornwall Young Farmers' Club. The show was held at

between 1827 and 1857, and from then on the venue changed every year until 1960, when the showground at Wadebridge became its permanent home. No show was held from 1915 to 1918, 1940 to 1945 due to the wars, nor 2020, due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

restrictions. * YEAR – LOCATION, ATTENDANCE * 1827 to 1857 –

* 1858 * 1859 * 1860 * 1861 * 1862 * 1863 * 1864 * 1865 * 1866 * 1867 * 1868 * 1869 * 1870 – Launceston * 1871 – Truro * 1872 –

, 17331 attendance for the two-day show * 1873 – Penryn, 11,712 * 1874 –

St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900. History St Austell was a village centred ...

17,022 * 1875 – Truro, 24,212 * 1876 –

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...

, 14228 * 1877 –

Camborne Camborne (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth, C ...

, 17186 * 1878 –

Saltash Saltash () is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall". Saltash’s landmarks ...

, 13,394 * 1879 – Falmouth, 18,926 attendance for the two-day show (12,414 paid for admission) * 1880 –

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; ) is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increasing to 2,899 at the 2011 census. The Lostwi ...

(Lanwithan estate), 9,188 paid for admission to the two day show. * 1881 –

Redruth Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...

, 20,105 * 1882 – Launceston, 16,399 * 1883 – Truro (Tremorva), 21,871 * 1884 –

, 16,057 ''(the following citation applies to the entries for 1870 to 1884)'' * 1885 –

Penzance Penzance ( ; ) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the westernmost major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated in the ...

(Treneere), 15,569 * 1886 – St Austell (Moire Cottage grounds), 16,551 * 1887 – Camborne (

Rosewarne Rosewarne is the name of two places in Cornwall, England. Rosewarne () is a hamlet in west Cornwall at , in the parish of Gwinear-Gwithian, near Reawla. The name of the hamlet comes from the Cornish language ''Roswern'', containing the elemen ...

), 16,753 * 1888 – Newquay, 11,711 * 1889 – Helston, 12,974 * 1890 – Truro, 12,118 * 1891 – Par, 13,484 * 1892 – Redruth, 18,793 * 1893 – Liskeard, 13,067 * 1894 – Falmouth, 18,316 * 1895 – Wadebridge, 16,342 * 1896 – St Ives, 13,040 * 1897 – Lostwithiel, 9,398 * 1898 – Penzance, 17,689 * 1899 – Launceston, 12,838 * 1900 – Truro, 14,560 * 1901 – Bodmin, 14,887 * 1902 – Camborne, 9,508 * 1903 – St Austell, 19,370 * 1904 – Falmouth, 16,287 * 1905 – Newquay, 13,055 * 1906 – Redruth, 20,320 * 1907 – Liskeard, 12,648 * 1908 – Helston, 17,370 * 1909 – St. Columb, 15,757 * 1910 – St Ives, 14,250 * 1911 – St Austell, 18,157 * 1912 – Penzance, 21,454 ''(the following citation applies to the entries for 1889 to 1912)'' Year, location and attendance figures from 1889 to 1912 taken from The Western Daily Mercury 14 June 1912 page 7 * 1930 – Liskeard * 1931 – St Columb * 1932 – Penryn * 1933 – * 1960 – 2019 – Wadebridge * 2020 – Postponed due to the

* 2021 – * 2022 – 120,671 * 2023 – 118,201

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Cornwall Show 1827 establishments in England Agriculture in Cornwall

Annual events in the United Kingdom Culture of Cornwall Events in Cornwall Festivals established in 1827 Lists of fairs Festivals in England Summer in the United Kingdom Summer festivals