A sponsorship drive has boosted funding for the forthcoming Aylsham Show, the country’s biggest one-day food and farming event.
Newly-elected show chairman Robert Mitchell told almost 50 members of the Aylsham Agricultural Show Association’s quarterly council that three new sponsors had come forward. One had agreed to sponsor the band and bandstand, which was a first for the show, he added.
A donation of £5,000 from a Norfolk-based trust, which was another first, was also a surprise addition towards the cost of staging the annual show on August Bank Holiday Monday, August 26 in Blickling Park.
Mr Mitchell, who took over at the association’s annual meeting in January, said that the sponsorship was vital for the association and that dozens of local companies, groups and bodies were long-standing supporters. But new sponsors were always extremely welcome, he added.
He also reported that the AASA’s long-serving administrator, David Hitcham, was making a good recovery and that members of the executive were pressing ahead with the detailed planning for the show.
Mr Mitchell said that the judging dates for the Norfolk County Farm Business competition, which was first held in 1979, had been set. He encouraged as many fellow farmers as possible to enter despite the challenges of the wettest autumn, winter and spring for a generation. The judges would be visiting entrants on June 10 and 11.
A full programme of livestock classes was planned and details of the scheduled classes for cattle, sheep, and goats were expected to be available on the association’s website from May 1.
Tickets for the annual show will be available from next month will cost £21 – the same as last year for advance purchases – and £25 on the gate. Parking is free, and children aged 16 and under are free.
The association, which has awarded more than £1m to local good causes, charities and the community in the past 75 years, aims to distribute surplus proceeds.
For details of sponsorship opportunities, contact [email protected]
Written by Michael Pollitt