Armagh Show Society confirmed an attendance figure just short of 50,000 for its 2024 celebration of farming and food, making it the largest visitor number recorded in the history of the annual event.
The crowd figure was released at the organisation’s recently held 2025 annual general meeting.
The event saw Richhill farmer, Ben Lamb, re-elected as chairman of the society. This will be his second year in office.
Lamb commented: “We had a tremendously successful event last year. Crowds were up, the support of sponsors was extremely strong, and we had an excellent turnout of livestock exhibitors across all our competition classes and we want to build on this for the future.”
“Making this happen is because of the fact that we have experts involved in every aspect of the show’s development on an annual basis.
“They are extremely efficient in everything that they do and are very proactive in nature,” he added.
Ben Lamb is a pedigree Aberdeen Angus Suffolk and Dorset breeder. He is very aware of the recent uplift in commercial beef and sheep prices.
“There are also strong indications of this boost in confidence being reflected in the prices paid for pedigree breeding stock,” he further explained.
The Armagh AGM saw members strongly voicing the opinion that Minister Andrew Muir should agree to a core funding package on the part of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) on behalf of all the local agricultural shows held in Northern Ireland.
Previously, Aled Rhys Jones, the chief executive of the Royal Welsh Show, had been commissioned to review this matter.
His report, published in 2023, concluded that DAERA should core fund all the local shows, with the recommended grant per event averaging £12,000.
To date, Muir has not agreed to act on the recommendation of the Jones’ report.
Armagh Show 2025 will be held on Saturday, June 14, with the venue set to be Gosford Forest Park, which is located close to the town of Markethill.
Courtesy of her presentation to the AGM, Armagh Show secretary, Flo McCall, highlighted four management priorities for the future.
These are – working with sponsors on an ever-closer basis; encouraging the active participation of young people; managing the show site in the most efficient way possible; and using social media to profile the annual event on a continuous basis.
It was also confirmed that the society now uses a social media specialist on a continuous basis.
