Kent County Show sees increase in visitor numbers to Detling Showground
Published: 12:00, 12 July 2016
Updated: 12:57, 12 July 2016
More than 80,000 people attended this year's Kent County Show, organisers have revealed.
The three-day celebration of everything Kentish, held from Friday to Sunday, brought 3,000 extra people to the Kent Showground in Detling than the previous year.
Lucy Hegarty, show manager, said: “We knew that it was going to be a great attendance number from the amount of cars in the car parks.
"The increased livestock entries, good show weather, wonderful displays and demonstrations gave this year’s Show a really vibrant atmosphere."
As well as the general public, organisers were pleased to have the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Phil Hogan, at the show answering farmers' questions.
His visit marked the first public engagement between the EU Commission and the British public since the decision to leave the EU, allowing him to address uncertainties of the rural and farming communities.
Headlining the entertainment was The Bolddog Lings FX Motorcycle display team, while the UK Pole Climbing Championships saw expert climber, Luke Towler, scale the 80ft pole in a winning time of 10.97 seconds.
Kevin Attwood, show chairman, said “We are thrilled with this year’s show, the showground looked wonderful, visitors were happy and the mostly dry weather helped to swell visitor numbers. We are slowly increasing attendance year on year which is an indication that the wider community are behind the agricultural and rural sector.
The dates for the 2017 Show will be Friday, July 7 to Sunday, July 9.
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Claire McWethy