As the agricultural show season gets into full swing, Kingdom County Fair is to return to a two-day format when it takes place this weekend.
Thousands of people are expected to attend the show at a dedicated site in Ballymacthomas, close to Tralee, on Saturday and Sunday (May 6-7).
This will be the 73rd running of the event, making the Kerry agricultural show among the longest running in Ireland.
Kingdom County Fair
Chair of the Kingdom County Fair committee, James Tarrant told Agriland that the show was traditionally held over two days and at one time even ran over three days.
“Similar to a lot of other shows we contracted to one day and we just felt that the time was right.
“We made a big decision last year to move to our own land at Ballymacthomas. It’s a lovely showgrounds, an ideal place for the show. It worked really well.
“There’s a great appetite, I think, for these agricultural shows and industrial shows. We just decided we’d go back to a two-day format and see how that would work,” he said.
The show committee and An Garda Síochána have developed a new traffic plan for the site this year.
“We’ve about 20ac of parking this year, as against 7-8ac last year. We were overwhelmed with the response last year and we misjudged it, quite honestly. I would be stunned if we had any sort of a traffic problem this year,” Tarrant said.
Kingdom County Fair will again host a range of showing classes for cattle, sheep, goats, horses and ponies, with thousands of euro in prize money on offer.
There is an extended cattle showing programme on Sunday with classes for dairy, beef and young handlers.
Showjumping will take place on both days, while the very popular dog show will be held on Sunday.
The show will also include an arts and crafts section, live music and Irish dancing.
Visitors will be able to view the latest agricultural machinery in the trade stands, along with a vintage display.
“They will have pains in their toes kicking tyres this year!” James Tarrant commented.
There will be a “huge emphasis on kids this year” at the Kingdom County Fair, with an array of family entertainment, including face painting, puppet shows, karaoke, along with the biggest selection of amusements ever seen at the event.
“I wouldn’t at all be surprised to see a lot of faces here on both days,” Tarrant said.