THREE days of sunshine and the first, much-needed heady days of summer, set the tone for the 2023 Devon County Show.

The organisers, Devon County Agricultural Association, said visitors arrived in their thousands over the three days, replacing umbrellas for sun hats and suntan lotion to enjoy the event which, for the first time in three years, returned to its traditional May dates.

Acting Show Manager, Lisa Moore, who has been with the show for 21 years but only this year agreed to take up the challenge of masterminding the entire event, reflects: “It’s been an amazing show.

“Agriculture even more so this year, was at the heart of the offering and designed to reinforce our commitment to the farming community.

“It was wonderful to be able to bring back the full complement of livestock with thousands of animals on site from 14 different breeds of cattle to angora goats, to woolly sheep through to heavy horses.

“The diverse mix of features and attractions on the showground worked well in terms of creating appeal for every single member of the family.

“The new Festival of Heavy Horses was a huge success, and the equine events worked like clockwork. The atmosphere had a real buzz about it.

“All show staff, stewards and volunteers reported lots of positive feedback from visitors, saying how much they were enjoying the show.

“Early indications are that Saturday could have been a record-breaking day and whilst we haven’t been able to fully confirm the numbers yet, what we do know is that we smashed our targets on ticket sales.

“The car parks were full to capacity at one point, and we had to rent a further 8 acres as contingency.  Even without the confirmed data, anyone who was on the showground on Saturday will be able to tell you that it was an extraordinarily busy one. 

“Now the big clean up begins but in no time at all, we’ll be back planning the 2024 show for which the dates have already been confirmed as Thursday, May 16, Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18.”