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Royal Highland Show cancelled for second year running due to pandemic

by Press Association
03/03/2021, 8:02 pm
The Royal Highland Show normally takes place every summer (Andrew Milligan/PA)
The Royal Highland Show normally takes place every summer (Andrew Milligan/PA)

The Royal Highland Show has been cancelled for the second year running due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The show, organised by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), had been due to take place at the end of June at Ingliston outside Edinburgh.

However, organisers said that due to coronavirus restrictions there was no option but to shelve plans for a traditional 2021 Royal Highland Show.

Instead, they are planning a show “behind closed doors” which would be livestreamed to give a global audience a flavour of what takes place during the event.

Bill Gray, RHASS chairman, said: “We had hoped beyond hope, particularly with the direction of travel before Christmas, that the vaccination rollout would enable the show as we know it to go ahead.

“However the prospect of extended restrictions, combined with advice from senior level Scottish Government officials, left us with no other choice but to seek an alternative to the staging of the traditional Royal Highland Show.

“While deeply disappointing, what is possible is genuinely innovative and exciting, and we are confident that with the power of the latest streaming technology and the finest elements of the show, we can create something truly special that is a true reflection of Scotland’s rural industries.”

Royal Highland Show
Sheep shearing is one of the events that normally feature in the show (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Along with livestock and equestrian, it is proposed that key elements of the traditional show would feature in the livestreamed event, including young handlers, technical innovation, cookery and handcrafts, together with farriery, forestry and sheep shearing.

Alan Laidlaw, RHASS chief executive, said: “At the time of the cancellation of the 2020 Show, RHASS directors made a firm commitment to do whatever was possible to enable the 2021 Royal Highland Show to go ahead.

“We have left no stone unturned in living up to this commitment and while it is not possible to deliver what we had planned, we are driving forward with the development of a fitting showcase of Scotland’s food, farming and rural sectors.”