County Show Day

Notes from a North Sea Island

The most important day in the Orkney calendar. The County quite literally shuts down for the day of the Show. Essentially the Wednesday and Thursday prior to it are also non-events since several of the rural districts on the Orkney Mainland as well as a number of the outer Isles hold their own smaller, but no less significant, shows in the days leading up to the main one in Kirkwall, Orkney’s main town.

Held each year on the second Saturday in August this is an agricultural show at its very best. It could happily compete with any of the numerous events like it held around Britain each summer. Simply everyone who can, attends. It’s a fun day out for all. If the weather happens to be wearing its Sunday best, naturally that’s an added bonus, but even the rain doesn’t usually manage to dampen many spirits on County Show Day.

The organisers get there early to set up. There are lots of stalls and entertainments too, so anyone involved with those will turn up at sparrow cough hour. Now you’d think, wouldn’t you, that the roads early on a Saturday morning during the school holidays in a small place in the very north of Scotland would be a scene of almost unnerving silence. Not on County Show Day they aren’t. As early as 6.00 or 7.00am huge transporters rattle and creak into Kirkwall bringing an assortment of award winning cattle, sheep, horses and poultry from the rural farms to be displayed, admired, paraded and judged at the Show.

The gates open at 10.00 o’clock, but long before that hundreds of cars arrive, spilling our their passengers who rush to join the queue, while their drivers find a place to park in the huge field opposite. A massive surge forwards as soon as the great padlock is released.

Unless you’re a farmer or are otherwise responsible for any of the animals the first thing to do, if you’re reasonably fit, is to sprint round all the stalls and entertainments to ascertain what is new this year, before reporting back to those left attending animals, children or grannies. Later on you can take your time to go round at leisure with family and friends, ‘blathering’ (chatting) to friends and acquaintances you meet who are doing exactly the same as you. This is the unwritten rule as to the natural sequence of events and the way to conduct yourself at the County Show.

Unless you have attended a show like this before it’s hard to imagine the cacophony of sounds assailing your ears. People, children, animals, tractors, steam engines and more all make a spectacular day which will be talked about for a long time afterwards.

All morning long the farm animals will be preened one last time while the judges go round all the pens making up their short list of winners in a variety of categories. At around midday the judges come together to agree on the final winners. At 1.00 o’clock the announcements are made and the rosettes are handed out to the proud owners who entered their animals into the Show. During the afternoon, the gymkhana and a parade around the grounds by an assortment of tractors, floats, clowns, gorillas, Mr. Blobbies, Elvis impersonators, eight legged donkeys and ….. well ….. just let your imagination run riot and you’ll probably be able to guess the rest.

Around 5.00pm folk start drifting away. The night of County Show Day is big, so there are country dances and parties to get ready for. The supermarket, which has sat almost empty, like the Marie Celeste, is besieged. A few essentials are purchased, yes, but mainly the raid is for booze – lots of it. Twelve hours or more of partying lie ahead and not a minute of it should be lost.

And what of the animals? A most stressful, unusual day is behind them. Some will hopefully be boasting a rosette in their ear. A stampede, some gentle coaxing and some shoving for the most obstinate fellows gets them back into trucks, transporters and horse boxes for the drive home. For them and the farmers the day is not quite over, but it will be soon. Once out on the country roads again there are just a few more rough tracks to negotiate before the promise of feed and water. The farmer most likely joins his family for supper before dance and music beckon.