Royal Welsh taking show online due to coronavirus

The Royal Welsh Show will be held virtually due to coronavirus, organisers have said.

The annual event, held in Llanelwedd, Powys, usually draws almost 250,000 people from 40 different countries.

This year's event at the Royal Welsh Showground was cancelled at an estimated cost of about £1.2m but organisers have been keen celebrate the agricultural industry online.

The week-long online event will start on 20 July.

Royal Welsh Agricultural Society chief executive Steve Hughson said: "This pandemic is causing organisations to seek new ways of engaging with their customers and stakeholders and the Royal Welsh is no different.

"We continue to move with the times and will use technology to educate people about the value of agriculture and local produce, share knowledge within agriculture around best practice, find new ways to entertain and also share memories, creating a nostalgic library of peoples' favourite parts of the show and reasons for coming.

"This is no substitute for the show, but will be an opportunity to bring people together demonstrate our resilience at this difficult time."

The aim of the event will be to ensure all sections of the show offer an experience to newcomers, and bring back memories to those that would usually be spending a week-long celebration of agriculture in Llanelwedd.

The last time the show was cancelled was in 2001 during the foot and mouth crisis.