Royal Show will be midweek event

The Royal Show in Warwickshire will be a midweek event next year, organisers have announced.

It follows disappointing attendances this July when the show at Stoneleigh was held on a weekend.

There were just under 100,000 visitors this year compared to the average attendance of about 120,000.

The Royal Agricultural Society said the 2009 show would run from 7- 10 July. It said it wanted to ensure it did not clash with other events.

It will also remain open in the evenings so that people can go after work.

'Long and hard'

Bluetongue restrictions, which prevented large numbers of livestock from appearing at this year's show, were also blamed for low attendance figures this year.

The number of cattle at the show was down by 1,000 to only 200 while the number of sheep was down from about 1,600 to 400.

Simon Frere-Cooke, the show's director, said: "We've reviewed our dates because we were consulting with people and other events as well.

"We want to make sure that we give everybody the opportunity to go."

Hugh Oliver-Bellasis, chairman of the Royal Agricultural Society, said: "The society thought long and hard about the change of dates for its prestigious flagship event.

"We surveyed opinion among exhibitors, trade exhibitors and show goers.

"The consensus was that to move the Royal Show back by a couple of days would help it to fit in better to the national show schedule and would be more convenient for both livestock exhibitors and stand holders."

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