Balmoral Show 2026 is a family affair for Rodgers family as they preen prize cattle for show

The annual Balmoral Show - the showcase of everything agricultural Northern Ireland has to offer - opens tomorrow at the Eikon Exhibition Centre at Lisburn and runs from Wednesday to Saturday.

Elizabeth Rodgers from Dromara says her family is showing four cattle and a calf.

"This is our annual marketing week for our cattle so we want to show them all to the best of their ability, because this is what sells our stock for the rest of the year," she told the News Letter.

"We are there to set these animals on stage, in their pens or out on the cattle lawn. Yes, okay, you have a judge, but that's only one person.

"You also have all the other people that are coming here and looking to buy stock."

Elizabeth and her husband Geoffrey have three children, all of whom take at least a week off work to make the magic happen; Lucy (21) a veterinary nurse and her boyfriend Harry Thompson; Emma (29) a tax consultant and her husband Callum Nelson, along with their 17-month-old son James, and Martin an ICU doctor.

"They all have full time jobs, but they all take this week off to help,” she added.

Elizabeth spends two days in advance of the show cooking meals to take to the show and serve to the family in their caravan.

This year they are showing an Aberdeen Angus cow and calf, a Limousin heifer, a Belgian Blue heifer and a British Blond bull.

For at least four nights someone has to check each animal every two hours to make sure they are safe.

But the hard work actually begins before Christmas.

"That is when you pick out the animals that you think that you would like to show, because show animals are treated differently to everyday animals."

From February or March they are fed a different meal, the same amount, but perhaps three times a day instead of twice.

The focus is on protein to increase the beef and the coat texture and growth.

The cattle must also be trained to walk on a halter and washed every day with cold water to encourage their coat to grow.

The family puts up flags and loud music at their farm and trains the animals to walk in a straight line despite loud noises and distractions - "because the Balmoral Show show isn't a quiet place."

Training also consists of lots of handling every day and washing and brushing their coats.

This week the final preparation involves clipping their coats and washing their hair with different coloured soaps to bring out the innate colours.

The animals are taken to the showgrounds on Tuesday morning to be trained in walking around the paddock and getting used to all the other animals.

"It's a big commitment because it takes two people for every one animal," she added. "So it's a big job but it's a great family thing and gets us all together for a week."

A free shuttle bus to the show runs from Lisburn Train Station to Eikon Centre.

See: https://balmoralshow.co.uk and www.translink.co.uk/using-translink/special-events/balmoral-show for details.