The countdown to the Royal Welsh Show begins at the Senedd with the Official Launch

The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) held the inaugural Official Show Launch at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay on Wednesday 28^th June 2023.

With only 26 days to go before the Royal Welsh Show, RWAS members, Members of the Senedd, key sponsors, media partners, and industry representatives came together to hear about what’s in store for this year’s Royal Welsh Show and the important social and economic role that the event plays in promoting agriculture and the wider rural economy.

Now in its 102^nd year, the Royal Welsh Show takes place from Monday 24^th July to Thursday 27^th July at the iconic showground in Llanelwedd, Builth Wells. Widely recognised as one of the best agricultural shows in the world, the Show attracts over 200,000 visitors over four days to celebrate not only food and farming, but culture, diversity, the Welsh language, passion and a love for the land.

To kick off the afternoon’s proceedings, RWAS Chair of Council, Nicola Davies welcomed and thanked attendees for coming along to the Senedd.

“This is the first time we’ve held an official launch for the Show and we would like to thank the Minister for Education and Welsh Language, Jeremy Miles, for kindly sponsoring this event. Our thanks also go to the Principality Building Society for their support and sponsorship towards today’s launch.

With our feature county being Glamorgan this year, there is no better place to hold the launch than in our capital city and here at the Senedd. Before the Show settled on our permanent site in Llanelwedd, it travelled the length and breadth of Wales, and 70 years ago, the Show was held here in Cardiff, on Pontcanna fields back in 1953. Therefore, we are proud to be back and able to share with you the exciting plans we have for this year’s Show.”

The Chair of Council welcomed Presiding Officer, Elin Jones MS to say a few words, followed by the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales and Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths MS. A regular visitor to the Show, we were delighted that the Minister for Rural Affairs was able to join us at the first official Show Launch.

Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths said: “The Royal Welsh Show is the highlight of the agricultural calendar here in Wales and I am looking forward to seeing everyone in Llanelwedd again this year.

“There is much to look forward to, from the wonderful animals on show, to the array of competitions, and the incredible amount of award-winning Welsh food and drink being showcased in the Food Hall.

“The Show continues to go from strength to strength and I would like to wish Aled Rhys Jones all the very best in delivering his first summer Show since being appointed as Chief Executive, and I am sure it will be another major success.”

Each year, one of the 12 traditional counties of Wales takes their turn to sponsor the Show and this year sees Glamorgan taking centre stage with John Homfray of Penllyn Estate as the President. John Homfray was next to take to the stage, and commented on what a huge personal honour it is to be President.

The funds raised by the Glamorgan feature county are going towards two landmark projects. Firstly, the recently launched Rural Leadership Programme, and secondly, a refurbishment of the South Glamorgan Hall. A few weeks ago, the very first Regen event was held at Sealands Farm which was a resounding success, sharing the principles of farming with nature.

“The Royal Welsh Show is one of our national beacons of excellence, we all feel an immense sense of love for and pride in it. We have had a great deal of fun here in Glamorgan preparing for the 2023 Show and have raised a lot of funds.

We thank you all for the contribution you have made to the Show’s success over the years and look forward to seeing you all next month at Llanelwedd.”

Finally, the Chair of Board, Professor Wynne Jones shared his grateful thanks to all for coming along to celebrate the countdown to the Royal Welsh Show and highlighted some of the new attractions in store this year.

“We are a Society built on traditional values, but with a firmly modern outlook, and that will be noticeable as you walk around the Show this year. Over the past few months, we have been working hard to introduce new elements to the Show.

We are launching the brand-new Welsh Food Village, Gwledd/Feast with ample seating and a live entertainment stage. Within the new food village, we will be hosting a Big Bocs Bwyd pilot project. Big Bocs Bwyd operate ‘pay as you feel’ food banks, promoting healthy diets, growing vegetables and deliver cooking lessons at some 50 primary schools across Wales.

We’re putting a big emphasis on becoming greener at this year’s Show – having switched our energy supply tariff, all the electricity on the showground is from 100% renewable sources, we’ve introduced a new green policy banning the use of single use plastics and we’ve commissioned Cardiff University to undertake an environmental sustainability review of the event.

On the Tuesday of the Show, we will be launching our new vision for Horticulture as we prepare for a major re-vamp of the section in 2024.”

Professor Wynne Jones finished by introducing the Show Reel full of highlights to give the audience a taste of what’s to come.

The Royal Welsh Agricultural Society would like to thank the launch sponsor Principality Building Society, who are committed to maintaining their high street presence by keeping all its 53 branches open until at least the end of 2025, which is a great support for rural communities.

With just over three weeks until the Royal Welsh Show get your tickets online now! For more information about what’s in store, and to buy tickets go to the RWAS website.