Thousands pour into Royal Cornwall Show ground

The Royal Cornwall Show is an event to be proud of, its show secretary has said as the event began earlier.

Thousands of people are expected to attend the three-day event at the Royal Cornwall Events Centre near Wadebridge which opened to ticket-holders at 08:30 BST.

About 118,000 people attended the event in 2023.

Organisers said the show had been "showcasing the best in Cornish agriculture and supporting the industry to thrive and innovate" since 1793.

Chris Riddle has been the event's show secretary for 35 years, and this year will be his last time as showrunner.

He said: "I'm certainly proud of it, now that's not just me it's a huge team that does that but I'd like to think I'm handing it over in good heart, and I have every faith in my successor."

He added: "I hope everyone has a super show, I'm looking forward to it immensely.

"It's Cornwall's three days out, people come along and enjoy what Royal Cornwall is all about."

His successor Mark Stoddart had been society manager at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society for more than 18 years.

He said: "The pride everyone has in the show is absolutely amazing.

"I'm looking forward to meeting all the people, shows like this don't exist without the volunteers and the staff... that's the heart and soul of the show."

The show involves a variety of agricultural activities, stalls and entertainment.

Police have reminded motorists there could be delays on local roads due to the volume of people attending the event.

Those visiting the show have been asked to plan their journeys home.

Devon and Cornwall Police said visitors should "nominate a designated, sober driver before attending the show".

The A30 will remain open throughout the course of the event after National Highways cancelled a planned closure due to roadworks.

Jorja Snook-Bevis, 19, told BBC Radio Cornwall it was her first time exhibiting at the show.

"This is my first year showing pedigree Hereford cattle, so it is a really big start," she said.

"There are lots of new things and I'm very excited."

Steve Dustow is the owner of Colwith Farm Distillery, which makes vodka and gin.

He said it costed him £600 for the pitch at the ground and with staff wages and free samples he would spend a total of about £2,000.

Mr Dustow said the firm would probably lose money taking part, but "in the long run we'll hopefully recoup the money".

Mr Riddle said he was "surprised to hear" some businesses may lose money.

He said businesses will do "an awful lot of business during the show or an awful lot of business post-show".

He added: "Most people say they do real business here.

"A lot of people must be doing fairly happily out of it."

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