Editorial: Balmoral Show set for another year of bumper crowds keen to enjoy the excellent mix of farming, food and fun

The farming, rural and food festival gets under way today at the large Maze site outside Lisburn.

Last year the number of people attending was 120,000, which was not quite the largest ever attendance but was almost so, only 4,000 shy of the 2019 total.

But in fact the number of visitors last year was almost certainly somewhat depressed as a result of the tail end of the Covid pandemic.

The show had been cancelled altogether in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus scare, and had been put on in more limited form the following year, in the autumn – well outside the normal season.

The 2022 Balmoral Show therefore happened at a time when not everyone was fully attuned to a return to the normal social and cultural calendar.

It is only a decade since the show move from the much-loved but cramped King's Hall complex to the Maze, and only six years since it expanded to become a four-day event.

This year could yet draw the biggest crowds so far. The weather forecast is not so good for today and tomorrow but looking much brighter on Friday and Saturday.

As per usual there will be showjumping, food tasting, animal displays and competitions, agricultural vehicle sales and a funfair.

Politicians will have stalls ahead of next week’s council elections.

The News Letter and Farming Life will be providing coverage of it all.