The 185th anniversary of Penrith Agricultural Society will be marked with a new show date, adapting to changing times to make Penrith Show an even better and less congested event. The new date will be the third Saturday of July – in 2019 that’s Saturday 20th July.
The traffic chaos around Penrith over the Penrith Show/Kendal Calling weekend, plus numerous other events in the county led the Penrith Agricultural Society to decide on moving its show date to the 3rd Saturday in July from next year.
Despite a very positive meeting with Kendal Calling and other local bodies who offered much help to the Society to keep the two events on the same weekend, the Penrith Show Committee felt that the pressure on the town and surrounding area would still be too great.
Richard Utting, Chairman of the Penrith Agricultural Society explained ‘‘We realise that having Penrith Show and Kendal Calling (KC) on the same weekend, adds to an already busy weekend, with major traffic congestion and other associated issues making it more challenging for our exhibitors and visitors. The severe congestion has not only had a detrimental effect on the show, but also on Penrith itself.
“As part of our review ahead of our anniversary year, we felt that a change of date would not only help us, but also the town and the local community. It is a very positive move and we think it will benefit everyone. We are hopeful that we can work with KC who have indicated that they still wish to support us and the local community.’’
Society Secretary, Mandy Hitch, also commented by saying “Everyone faces a weekly challenge of Kempley Roundabout, even without any events locally, so we are just trying to do our bit to help. We have kept the date as close as possible to the old one to keep us in sync with the show calendar and the 20th July next year has the least number of clashes with other events.
“We also hope that by bringing the date closer to the start of the school holidays will encourage more schools to take part in the children’s classes at the Show – something we are keen to encourage as we move into our celebrations for our 185th anniversary. We hope that both farmers and locals alike will come and support us.’’
