Crowds testify to Highland Show's mass appeal

Published on Sunday 28 June 2009 21:14

THERE are not many public events which began in 1822 that still command a mass audience, never mind a record-breaking one. But this year's Royal Highland Show is set to surpass the 160,000 visitors it attracted in 2008, despite two of its four days being shrouded in an Edinburgh haar.

The reason for this success is that the RHS is not simply an agricultural trade fare where farmers come to chew the cud. Since it put down permanent roots at Ingliston in 1960, the show has spread its appeal to a new audience and attracted exhibitors well outside the traditional definition of farming. In short, the RHS has become a focus for re-engaging urban Scots with the land and the natural environment, and doing so in a far more entertaining and educational manner than the usual dry appeals to "save the planet".

This year's RHS had cows and horses. But it also had organic beer makers, renewable energy producers, supermarkets bent on proving they source local food and every green group imaginable. It had a lay audience (much of it young) meeting face-to-face the industry that feeds us, clothes us and supplies a significant part of Scotland's exports. No other business has such a shop window. The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society deserves credit for giving us – in its own words – the greatest show on Earth.