It’s hard to believe that it’s almost show time again. Newmarket-on-Fergus in Co Clare is one of the first shows on the calendar on 30 April this year.
Another early date on the calendar is Sunday 21 May when Nobber Show takes place in the small Co Meath village.
Nobber Show has quite a unique story.
A fair day has taken place in the town for the last 15 years where the main street in the village is closed off for the fair day to take place.
In 2019, a number of individuals came together to see how they could drive things on a little further.
They decided to establish the Nobber Show and ran cattle and sheep classes in their first year of showing in 2019.
Covid-19 dealt their 2020 plans a big blow and like all other events around the country, no show took place in 2020 and 2021.
The easy thing to do would have been to let the show slip but the committee decided to press on with their plans in 2022.
Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, show chair Henry Mulligan said: “We added a few extra cattle and sheep classes in 2022 and we got great support from the showing community with entries.
“That gave us the nod that we were on the right track and to keep going and we have added more classes in 2023 to try and attract more entries.”
The two flagship cattle classes at the show in 2023 are a pedigree calf of any breed born from 1 August 2022 to 31 December 2022 with €2,000 in prize money in this class.
Non-pedigree class
There is also a non-pedigree calf class for calves born from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023 with €2,000 in prize money up for grabs in this class also.
Vice-chair Ollie Curtis said: “The show has really brought the community together. We put a call out to lots of local groups for help on the day and everybody mucks in and does everything they can to help us.
“We were genuinely amazed at the amount of people that put their hands up to help. We try to distribute whatever funds we have over at the end of the show to these groups to help them out.”
The show is unique in that the fair day takes place on the main street and the show takes place just behind the houses along the main street.
“The road is closed at 5am so that’s when we start and we have to have all cleared off the street by 6pm that evening to allow the road to open again.
“It’s a hectic day but you get a great buzz when everything goes well. There’s nothing like it.
“Like other shows, Nobber Show is where the town meets the country and that’s an important link-up that mustn’t be forgotten as we navigate things like climate change in the future.”
The show has also added extra sheep classes in 2023 with a shearing competition taking place on the day.
Entries close on Friday 12 May and anybody wishing to enter can email their enquiries to nobbershow2020@gmail.com