Royal Show announces date change

The Royal Show will now include an extra weekend day

The Royal Show in Warwickshire has changed its dates to include an extra weekend day, in a bid to get more involvement from the general public.

The show will now run from Thursday 3 July to Sunday 6 July, 2008, instead of Sunday 29 June to Wednesday 2 July.

It will also merge with the Country Food and Drink fair to combine the traditional agricultural emphasis with a food and drink festival.

The Yorkshire Agricultural Show said the move would damage its event.

Its organisers said they were "disappointed" because the date move would mean there were only two days between both events and some exhibitors would not be able to attend both.

The show, in Harrogate, is due to take place from 8 July till 10 July.

This year, the Royal Show had to close a day early because bad weather made the ground too muddy.