Countryside Live

Countryside Live is the sister event of the annual farming and rural showcase, the Great Yorkshire Show. It is held during October, at the Great Yorkshire Showground in the town of Harrogate, England. The public two-day event is designed to act as a shop window 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, sheep, poultry, pigeons, horses, ponies, and pigs. The region's Young Farmers' Club organises a Tug of War championship and stock-judging competitions. The site has local food and drink stands.

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. It has 400 entries in the sheep and cattle classes.^[1]

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, classes for both modern and traditional breeds of pigs, and classes for novice horse riders.^[2]

In 2010, a record crowd of 10,221 visitors attended the event. Overall, there were 226 entries in the equine 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 apples and nine varieties of pears 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^[1] people attended the performance.

Countryside Live celebró su décimo aniversario anual en 2012, cuando la feria fue asistida por 12.601 visitantes. ^{[ 3 ] [ 4 ] [ 5 ]} Se agregaron varios eventos nuevos al programa. Estos incluyeron la final del evento de equitación Northern Show Cross. El evento de novatos junior fue ganado por una niña de 14 años de Scarborough , mientras que el evento de novatos senior fue ganado por un hombre de 74 años de Monk Fryston . ^{[ 6 ]} El evento consiste en salto de obstáculos tradicional y saltos de campo a través . ^{[ 7 ]} Otros eventos nuevos en la feria incluyeron una demostración de ciclismo de montaña, una aparición de Carol y Phillip Mellin y su perro pastor Jess, del programa de televisión de ITV The Dales ; y la exposición de flores y verduras de la Sociedad Hortícola de Knaresborough . Además, el Rare Breeds Survival Trust asistió a la feria por primera vez. ^{[ 6 ]} Hubo más de 3.000 inscripciones en las clases de ovejas y ganado.

La undécima edición de este evento anual se celebró los días 19 y 20 de octubre de 2013, con el regreso de la final del Northern Show Cross y la incorporación de las nuevas pruebas de la pista de conducción privada.

• Sitio web de Countryside Live