Royal Highland Show attracts record numbers

A record number of people visited the 175th Royal Highland Show, say organisers.

A total of 188,449 attended the show – almost 10,000 up on last year’s 178,569 and 805 more than the previous record set in Ingliston in 2010.

More than 30,000 children were welcomed for free over the four days to learn about food, farming and the countryside.

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Visitors included Princess Anne, who is patron of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth (RASC), Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish rural affairs minister Richard Lochhead and BBC Countryfile presenter Adam Henson.

The main focus was on about 7,000 of the UK’s finest livestock, with more than £225,000 of prize money and 280 trophies worth about £2m awarded.

This year, the show’s new food offering – Scotland’s Larder Live! – featured more than 120 of the finest food and drink exhibitors from across Scotland and the UK.

It brought to life the main consumer message of “farming equals food” and was a lively, stimulating, informative and interactive area full of smells, sights and samples.

Stephen Hutt, chief executive of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), said: “Once again the Royal Highland Show has lived up to its reputation as one of Scotland’s most enduring and iconic events.

“Along with being the place to experience the best of farming, food and rural life, it is also still very much the place to ‘do business’, with trade space selling out in record time this year.”

The annual show, Scotland’s largest outdoor event, contributed £47.1m to the Scottish economy in 2014.