Organisers have been forced to cancel one of England’s last hopes of an agricultural show before the end of 2020 due to the ongoing global pandemic of Coronavirus (Covid-19).
A spokesperson for the Royal Bath & West Society said it was “with great sadness” that the society today announced the cancellation of this year’s Dairy Show.
A spokesperson said: “The society admits this is an extremely difficult decision to make, though in light of the recent rise in confirmed cases, we feel this is the responsible thing to do.
It has become clear that the impact of these challenging times on gatherings will not have abated sufficiently to allow the Dairy Show to go ahead in the way we would want it to.
The 2020 event would have marked the show’s 40th anniversary and was set to take place on October 7. The next Dairy Show will now be held on October 6, 2021.
We understand that this is very disappointing news for everyone involved with the Dairy Show but our priority remains as always the health and safety of our visitors, exhibitors, members and staff.
Alan Lyons, head of shows at the Royal Bath & West Society, said: “Obviously, we are hugely disappointed to be taking this decision today.
To have to cancel one of the key industry events in the UK is a great shame, especially when so many others have fallen by the wayside this year.
“We hope that our visitors, traders and exhibitors will understand that we have a civic responsibility to act sensibly and we felt that with the reduction in numbers of people allowed to meet, cancellation now is the right thing to do.
“This was due to be our 40th anniversary and we had already made some adjustments to the Dairy Show so we will now look forward to welcoming the dairy industry back to next year’s Dairy Show on October 6, 2021.
“The Board of Trustees and all staff at the Royal Bath & West Society would like to thank the public, trade stand exhibitors, British Cheese Awards exhibitors, and all sponsors for their understanding and patience during this period of uncertainty and what is an unprecedented situation.”
The society will be in touch with exhibitors, sponsors and competition entrants for the show with details of what to do next, and will also contact all ticketholders.
