Brisk day at Cunningsburgh Show

A group of French friends who arrived in Shetland on Tuesday evening for a few days stay spent a wee while viewing and taking in the atmosphere of the Cunningsburgh show on Wednesday. Photo: Jim Nicolson

The 71st Cunningsburgh Show attracted a large crowd on a fine day on Wednesday, with attendance at Shetland’s biggest show surpassing last year’s total.

Thousands crowded the extensive show field, with some tourists even watching proceedings from the gate, and a festive atmosphere was provided by Shetland music, the tempting smells from the barbecue and balloons, ice cream and candy floss.

Show president Kenneth Mackenzie said: “We’ve done really well this year, the car park is full, the field is full and there are lots of queues, that’s a good sign.

“The number of exhibitors is down in a few classes with the bad year [weatherwise] but we’re not disheartened, it will improve next year.”

However 2,695 entries from all over Shetland was still an impressive number, and both the ice cream seller and the operators of the children’s giant slide said it was a bumper year, with business being non-stop.

The judging got underway early, with the difficult task of choosing the winning animals, assessing vases of flowers, vegetables, eggs, knitwear and handcrafts and even tasting all the jars of jam to find the best.

The cattle, sheep, horses and ponies are often the main attraction, and this year the overall cattle champion was a Limousin calf belonging to Terry Priest, who had come all the way from Unst to show her. The six-month-old caramel coloured female calf had been bred by the Priest themselves, and had her mother too had been a prize-winner in Unst and Yell.

More in this week’s Shetland Times, with full results and photos included next Friday.