The Great Yorkshire Show (GYS) is an annual agricultural show which takes place on the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, in the North of England. Organised and run by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS), the show lasts four days, starting on the second Tuesday of July. Since the demise of the Royal Show, the GYS has been the largest agricultural show in England; however, within the United Kingdom, it is surpassed by both the Royal Welsh Show and the Royal Highland Show. The show is highly successful and the society generated income of £9.6million in 2016.[1] A new hall at the showground, costing £11million, opened in 2016 and produced more than £1million of income in its first year.
The history of the GYS is intimately connected with that of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS).
1837: The YAS was founded; its primary aim was stated as "... to hold an Annual Meeting for the Exhibition of Farming Stock, Implements &c., and for the General Promotion of Agriculture."[2]
1838: The first YAS Show was held in the Barrack Yard at Fulford, near York.[3] The numbers attending were not recorded, but the event was counted a success; police had to use their batons to restore order among the large numbers of visitors when they began to force their way in without paying.[4]
1842: The show returned to York. This is the first year for which attendance figures are available — the Show in 1842 had a paid attendance of 6,044.[5] By 1843 the YAS Show had become known as the "Great Yorkshire Show", apparently by popular acclamation rather than in any official sense.[6]
The GYS continued to be held in various places around Yorkshire until 1950.
1948: By now the YAS was coming to the conclusion that the expenses involved in setting up a new showground every year were becoming prohibitive.[8]
1949: It was agreed in York by the council of the show, and announced on 22 June 1949 by the Harrogate mayor Mary Fisher that a permanent showground be acquired in that town.[9]
1950: The last peripatetic show, in Malton. The YAS bought a site at Hook Oval in Harrogate for £16,500.
1951: From here on, Hook Oval in Harrogate has been the permanent site for the GYS. The 1951 the attendance figure was nearly 54,000.
2006: The most successful show so far in terms of attendance figures,[5] with 135,111 visitors.
2008: The show was attended by the Queen to celebrate the 150th occasion on which the Show had been held.[10]
2011: The show came close to the record with 135,086 visitors.[11]
2012: This show (the 154th) was cancelled on Tuesday 10 July 2012 after only one day, due to exceptional rain which had made the showground car parks unsafe. Organisers stated that the decision had been taken "reluctantly".[12] This was the first cancellation due to weather. (Earlier cancellations had been due to war or foot and mouth disease.) An old bulldozer towed horse trailers out of muddy ground.
2017: The show was held on Tuesday 11 – Thursday 13 July 2017. This was the 159th show.
2018: This was the 160th show and was held on Tuesday 10 – Thursday 12 July 2018.[13]
2020: The show (the 162nd), which would have been held on the Tuesday 14 – Thursday 16 July 2020, was cancelled on Monday 23 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first show to be fully cancelled since 2001.[14]
2021: For the first time in its history, the show was held over four days, between Tuesday and Friday, 13–16 July.[15]
2023: The show for the first time saw the introduction of the Innovation Zone.[16]
2025: The 166th edition of the show was deemed sold out, with an attendance of 140,000 visitors.[17]
Showground
The showground
The Great Yorkshire Showground is situated off Railway Road, on the outskirts of Harrogate. The site is 250 acres (100ha) in area, and consists mainly of grassland with several permanent structures. These include:
The showground facilities are used all the year round for various functions and events ranging from the Great Yorkshire Show to antiques fairs, trade shows, business conferences and wedding receptions. It is estimated that one million people visit the showground per year.
Royal visits
The relationship between the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and the Royal Family goes right back to the foundation of the Society by a group of leading agriculturalists, led by the John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, in 1837 before organising the first Great Yorkshire Show the following year.
The Show has welcomed members of the Royal Family over the years, some of whom have also been Patrons of the Society.
Queen Elizabeth II was the first female Patron of the Society, and remained so for 45 years from 1952 to 1997. King Charles III has been the Society’s Patron since 1998.[20]
1926 – Visit by Princess Mary, later The Princess Royal and The Countess of Harewood. She was the aunt of Elizabeth II and was the first female President
1 2 Quoted attendance figures are for "paid attendance". This does not include attendance by members of the YAS as members are entitled to free entry to the Show
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