Warkworth Show to go ahead in virtual guise this summer

Warkworth Show committee is putting together plans for a special virtual exhibition and is calling on the local community to get involved.

Ahead of show day on August 22, it is also encouraging residents to take part in fortnightly challenges.

Simon Buist, chairman, said: “Along with everybody else at the moment we are having to change and adapt.

“Warkworth Show started 161 years ago and the reason we have only held 148 shows so far is that our predecessors had no other option but to cancel the shows during the two world wars and during an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the 1960s.

“The Warkworth Show committee decided that, notwithstanding the restrictions being imposed on us all by COVID-19, we could still achieve many of the aims and objectives of our show by holding the exhibition using information technology and social media – an opportunity which was never available to our predecessors.”

The virtual exhibition will include children’s, horticultural, and industrial exhibits being photographed, uploaded, judged and then available in a virtual marquee.

Most entries will be photographed at the exhibitor’s home by a team of photographers well before show day but for some classes the exhibitor will photograph their own exhibits and send the images in.

The first of the fortnightly challenges kicks off on June 10 with entrants asked to send a picture of wildlife in the garden or to create a bug hotel and email it to [email protected]. The photos will be uploaded to the Warkworth Show Facebook page, where residents can ‘like’ the entries. The entry with the most likes wins.

Simon said: “The fortnightly challenges and the 149th virtual exhibition will provide something on which we can all focus, and may help to lift spirits by keeping us all connected during these difficult times. More than ever, the emphasis is on taking part, having fun and, yes, a little competition.”

The exhibition will only be open to the residents of Warkworth parish and members of the Amble Allotment Holders Society, the Amble, Acklington and Warkworth WIs.

Visit www.warkworthshow.co.uk for more details.

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