Virginia Show is one of the largest agricultural shows to take place in the northeast of the country.

The show has been one of the highlights of the showing calendar in August, with 500 classes from brown bread to Bantam hens.

The show will also host over 200 trade stands and take in over 3,500 exhibits for the one-day event on Wednesday 21 August 2024.

The show, which has been existence for the last 83 years, depends on volunteers, like many other shows around the country, to ensure its success every year.

Attractions

One of the biggest attractions at the show is the famous Diageo Baileys champion dairy cow competition, run in conjunction with Tirlan, with a total prize fund of €13,000.

Cows travel from all over Ireland to compete in this world-famous class, with the ringside always thronged to see some of the best cows in Ireland compete for the coveted title.

In the beef section, the €5,000 Carnaross Mart weanling championship also draws exhibitors from the four corners of Ireland to try to take home the red rosette.

The Liffey Meats champion beef bullock competition is also a big attraction in the commercial cattle world, with a prize fund of €2,000 up for grabs in this class.

Farmers showing sheep is growing year on year and sheep classes at this year’s Virginia Show will see strong competition in the pedigree Suffolk, Texel, Charollais and Vendéen, as well as recent additions of Native Galway, Blue Texel and Dassenkop sheep.

The champion in the Blue Texel and Dassenkop section will compete for the Paddy Keoghan Cup and in the crossbred section, the overall winner will receive the Hugh Faulkner Cup.

Home industries plus arts and crafts are a huge part of every summer show and Virginia Show include classes for fruit and flowers, home industries, craftwork, handwriting, short stories, poetry, paintings, photography with confined sections for active age groups and more than 20 children’s classes, which are some of the best supported classes at the show.

Cookery demonstration with chef Adrian

Irish celebrity chef and author Adrian Martin, originally from Cavan, will demonstrate his culinary skills at the cookery demonstration at this year’s show, another popular attraction for patrons.

For more details on the show and how to enter, visit www.virginashow.com.

For more show coverage, including photos and results from this week’s shows around the country, visit here.