Wales Farmer 18 SPRING FESTIVAL Royal Welsh Spring Festival May 2013 May 18-19th, Llanelwedd, Builth Wells


Spring event bounces back


PUT aspring in your step with atrip to the ever-popular


By Lisa Soar Royal


Welsh Spring Festival being held at the Llanelwedd


show-


ground this month. Arecord340 classes and


special awards arescheduled forthis year’sshowwhich takes place on May18th and 19th.


The festivalattracted near-


ly 25,000 visitors last year and the livestock section with its manytraditional, rare and native breeds,isamajor interest forfestival-goers. With 18 breeds on show


and severaladditional classes including those forthe best


presented pen and the best breed tradestand, sheep dom- inate.Toadd to the interest a sheep young handlers compe- tition is aqualifier forthe Rare Breeds SurvivalTrust Young Shepherdofthe Year contest, thefinal of which takes place at the Royal BerkshireShowin September. The sheep will be judged


over the twodaysofthe festi- valincluding classes for novices –new exhibitors aged over 17, whohavenever beforeshown sheep at anyof the three RoyalWelsh events at Llanelwedd. The supreme sheep cham-


pion will be chosen on Sunday, May19th from the champion of each section judged over both days. Pigs will also feature


prominentlyatthe festival, which once again will be a qualifying event forthe nationwide Pig of the Year competition. The final, with a prizeof£200 forthe winner, takes place at the Great YorkshireShow. APig PetShowwith class-


es forobedience,the most attractive pig, the fastest run- ner and the one with the curliest tail, will addamuse- ment to the programme. Goats arealwaysabig


attraction and as well as the keenly-contested classes,a


special Angorafleece compe- tition will provide additional interest forvisitors. The cattle classes areopen


to 28 traditional and native breeds and include rare breeds such as Blue Albion, White Park and British Whites.The Ancient Cattle of Wales will also featurecattle of avariety of colours,often localised to areas of Wales, and manynow extinct. The Ancient Cattle of Wales Society wasformed in 1983 to raise awareness of the exis- tence and value of the old coloured Welsh cattle and to conservethe colour varieties by registering appropriate animals and by creating a special marketfor them.


Scurry along to races


ASCURRY driving competition –the high speed equestrian sport in which a pair of ponies draw acarriage around acourse markedout with cones in an attempt to achieve the fastest time – will be among the attractions at this year’sshow. Drivers aim to get around the track


without knocking anyofthe balls off the top of the cones marking out the course.For every ball thatisknocked offa penalty is incurred. The compe- tition involves fast speeds,sometimes at the gallop,and tight turns so that the skills of the drivers areseverely tested and accuracy is essential. The thrilling spectacle of scurry


driving wasfirst recorded in the USA in the 1950s beforecoming to the UK and Europe in the 1960s whereithas become evermorepopular with a number of British drivers taking the top places in the European champi- onships.


Competitors at the festivalare


being offered hundreds of pounds in prizemoney and the first six placed drivers in each preliminary class will go forwardtothe festivalchampi- onship,while the winner of each pre- liminary class will qualify forthe British National Scurry Driving Championship to be held at the Royal BerkshireShow.


Take alook at gardeners’ world


ONE of the best alternatives to hiring aprofessional gar- den designer is to takeatrip to theRoyal Welsh Spring Festivaltoviewthe stunning exhibits in the Gardeners’ Corner in the festival’sFloral Hall.


Therevisitors can see a selection of attractive garden layouts to inspirethose who plan to spend some time in


the summer months improv- ing and enhancing their gar- dens at home. Last year’scompetition


attracted severalinteresting layouts from clubs and soci- eties in Wales including the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust, the Wales and Borders Pig Breeders Association, Ashfield


Community Enterprise,Cwmbran and


South Torfaen Society – Allotment and Leisure Gardener’sSociety,and RENEW –Radnorshire Enterprise


forNature,


Education and Wellbeing. The Spring Festivalaspires


to be the leading event in Wales forsmallholders,gar- deners and sustainableliving, and to this end the Royal Welsh aims to create a


stronger educational plat- form forvisitors whomay ownasmall garden or patio area, or evenanacreof ground, whowould liketo create gardens using recycled materials or easy-grow prod- ucts of their own. Forthem, the Gardeners’ Corner will provide an opportunity to learn moreand to explore newideas.


1,000 dogs will have their day at festival


MORE than 1,000 dogs and their owners will also converge on the showground to lapup prizes. The ‘Premier Open Show’ sta-


tus has been granted to the RWAS’scanine section by the Kennel Club forthe fifth succes- sive year,once again making it a qualifier forCrufts. The dogshowisone of the


big attractions forvisitors to the festival. “Their owners bring them


from across the country,from Scotland to Cornwall to com-


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk


pete at the show,”said honorary secretary Julie Howells. “Weare looking forwardtoa


big turnout this year despite the increasing costs of travel due to rising petrol prices.” Morethan 75 breeds arelist-


ed in the schedule.The judging will takeplace over the twodays of the event. Terriers,gundogs and those in the hound group will be judged on the first day and toys and utilities,and work- ing and pastoral groups will be in the showring on the second day.


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