The gods shone on the first day of the Suffolk Show – creating ideal conditions to bring out the crowds and create a “perfect” event according to its director Bee Kemball.
An overnight storm settled the dust and softened the grass, and the dry day persuaded tens of thousands of people to make their way to Trinity Park.
This year’s event had an ancient and modern theme – a theme picked out by a beaming Mrs Kemball.
She said: “I can’t really believe how lucky we have been. The weather has been perfect. The overnight conditions set the park up well and the dry day has not been too hot and people haven’t had to worry about smothering themselves in sunscreen.”
Every year there are innovations at the show, and Mrs Kemball said two of the newer exhibits this year helped to set off the event well.
“We have the commemoration of the end of the First World War at one end of Trinity Park and the BT stand next to the military area at the other showing off the most modern technology.
“That is a great contrast and really does sum up the fact that the Suffolk Show covers all aspects of life in the county.”
The show may only last two days, but it takes a year of planning. This was Mrs Kemball’s second of three years and she spent much of the day touring the showground and seeing how changes she had made after last year had bedded in.
But her aim was to ensure that any changes were gradual, the character of the show remains the same with agriculture at its heart.
And that is a formula that seems to go down well. She said: “Last year was very successful and from what I have seen this year it feels like a repeat of that.”
The final figures for the number of people will not be known until all the ticket sales have been tallied up in a few weeks time – but it is hoped that up to 90,000 people could have visited the show during its two days.
It can be a tiring event – organisers like Mrs Kemball arrive at Trinity Park at about 6am on show days and remain on site until late in the evening – but she said it was very rewarding when she heard such positive feedback from stallholders and saw such happy faces on visitors.
She said: “I can’t stop smiling myself. Everything is going so well today. And next week we start planning for next year!”
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