FEATURE The Game Fair: STANDING LAST MAN Withinweeks of theCLAabandoning its game fair back in 2015, therewere five I
prospective heirs to the
crown.And yet, only one has survived themelee into 2017. Ironically, the teambehind
t was perhaps not such a big shock in the autumn of 2015 that the Country Land and Business Association
(the CLA) decided to cancel its game fair, an event that had been running since 1958. After all, it had lost money
for the previous three years, had seen cancellations due to unprecedented summer rainfall and was competing against ever more alternative countryside events. And yet, within weeks of its
demise a string of potential suitors had appeared, all vying to fill the gap in the calendar that the biggest and most prestigious of these events had left.
Game Fairwars
Leaving aside the BBC’s Countryfile Live,which had already shown its hand before the CLA decided to pull the plug (although one can only wonder if this hastened the end) and does not include a shooting element, there were four others that launched events into themarket. First to throw its hat into
the ring was Blaze Publishing and its controversial publisher Wes
Stanton.Backed by his portfolio of shootingmagazines, many thoughtWesmight be the saviour, especially when he sold his business interests to publishing giant Future early in 2016. With a central location
at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, once home to the Royal Show andTown and Country Festival, this looked to havemomentum. Ten came IanHarford,
who already runs a number of successful regional countryside events under his Countryman Fairs
banner.Could his bold bid at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire succeed? In truth, his bid was over
before it had begun, onceTe Game Fair had announced itself. Taking up themantle – and
many of the staff – of the CLA Game Fair, the teambehind this approach essentially took on the planned venue – Ragley Hall inWarwickshire – and many of the let down exhibitors.
this venture had also been the publishers of a number of show guides, including the CLA Game Fair brochure. Indeed, this history proved
crucial sinceTeGame Fair had its roots in the CLA event and sees itself as a continuation of “all of the good bits”of that event, hence using the tagline of the 58thGame Fair, continuing the tradition. Finally, there was another
publisher that entered the fray. On paper,Time Inc had
arguably the best case of all to run its Field and Country Fair,. After all, it had
someheavyweight promotional vehicles in the shape ofTe Field,Country Life,Shooting Times and a portfolio of other
Ragley Hall hosted the 2016 Game Fair – and did a fine job.
26
www.tandgmagazine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56