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This Year’s Royal Welsh Show Goes Digital

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The Royal Welsh Show is set to hold its first fully virtual event later this month – produced by leading Welsh media firm Business News Wales, in partnership with NatWest Cymru.

Coronavirus restrictions may have led to the cancellation of the 2020 event on the showground in Llanelwedd, mid Wales, but the digital show will mean the four-day celebration of Welsh agriculture can continue online.

The virtual show will run from July 20th to 23rd and will feature a packed schedule of events focused on agriculture, Welsh produce and the environment.

The full event line up will be announced on Tuesday 7th July.

As hosting physical events became impossible due to lockdown, Business News Wales stepped in with its new virtual events service to support businesses to continue to connect with their audiences.

 Mark Powney, Managing Director, Business News Wales said:

“I am delighted that Business News Wales has secured the contract to produce this year’s Royal Welsh Show. Whilst many thousands of visitors and participants will be disappointed to miss out on their trip to the showground this year, this partnership with ourselves and NatWest Cymru means they’ll still get to experience and enjoy all sections of the show.

“It has also given the show the opportunity to accelerate its own digital journey, which we hope will integrate naturally into future shows to help them reach new and bigger audiences.

“As well as delivering this year’s Royal Welsh experience to members and spectators of the show, our production team will also share all sessions with our own daily audience of more than 20,000, putting the show in front of a new business audience this year. Our video, graphics, editorial and web development teams are working around the clock to ensure this year’s show is a digital success for the more than 100 partners involved in providing events and content.”

Kevin Morgan, of NatWest Cymru Board, said:

“We’re delighted to be partnering with the Royal Welsh Show as the official supporter of this year’s landmark digital event. From the initial concept we have worked very closely with the event’s executive team to develop the idea of a digital show and believe this is a pioneering opportunity to engage the event to a new audience as well as the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the showground every year.

“Our rural communities are hugely important to us as a bank, which is why we are proud to support so many farming and agricultural businesses throughout Wales. Empowering them, and the communities around them, as we come out of lockdown is part of our purpose and why we are looking forward to hosting a number of digital events as part of this year’s online show.”

Steve Hughson, Chief Executive of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, said:

“This pandemic is causing organisations to seek new ways of engaging with their customers and stakeholders, and the Royal Welsh is no different.  We continue to move with the times and will use technology to educate people about the value of agriculture and local produce, share knowledge within agriculture around best practice, find new ways to entertain and also share memories, creating a nostalgic library of people’s favourite parts of the show and reasons for coming.  This is no substitute for the show, but will be an opportunity to bring people together to demonstrate our resilience at this difficult time.”

Additionally, alongside the virtual event, a campaign will start on the 1st of July to raise £20,000 in 20 days, in 2020. The Society would like to raise £20,000 for 3 charities; The DPJ Foundation, Tir Dewi and The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) to recognise the importance of support and raise the awareness of mental health in the agricultural industry. We encourage the Royal Welsh community to get involved and nominate 5 other individuals by achieving 20 physical activities over 20 days to help us raise £20,000!

Business News Wales