Before this weekend I had never been to the GAME FAIR. I’ve been to many country shows (as a horse mad teenager I made my parents drive my horse and I to so many!) but I had no idea what to expect. I knew there would be dogs, and guns, and mud (what’s a country event without it!), but there was so much more to do than I imagined!
History of The Game Fair
The first Game Fair was held in 1958.
This incredible video let’s you see what the game fair looked like back then, it’s also a beautiful captured moment of the history of the British countryside , and our sporting traditions.
Today the Game Fair offers so much more but I believe its around the same very idea of the initial one.
The Game Fair Today
We arrived on Friday. With a 13-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl in tow. All we hoped for was that there would be good weather and enough to keep us all occupied for the 72 hours.
Parking was simple and I was impressed with how well organised everything was. We rode the tractor taxi to the entrance, which the littlest one loved!
Both my husband and I am BASC MEMBERS, so it made sense, and saved money on tickets, to sign up the young ones too. It also gave us the advantage of using the BASC entrance. There were no large queues all weekend which again impressed me. There are three main entrances into the fair, each day we used the Purple one, so I can’t comment on the other two, but the one we used was great all weekend.
Finding Your Way About The Game Fair
Once inside, we decided to do a large orientation walk first. This is the joys of having an outdoor instructor as a husband, lol!
The Game Fair has different areas, theatres and rings, with so much going on that there’s loads to choose from. In each area we visited there was places to eat and drink, toilets that worked quite well all weekend, and lots of retailers selling an incredible range of products for country lovers.
This is the super fast run down – We started at the kid zone, through the falconry village, around the gun dog section, through the vast retail village, into the gamekeeper and shooting section, on through the BASC section with Kitchen Theatre, swiftly through fishing (no fishermen in our family), past the horses and hounds, on to the main arena, passed the Game Fair Pavilion and Carter Jonas theatre, crept through the Totally Food area which was amazing, passed the craft village, and ended up nearly back at our start by the Game Fair Gardens!
What To Do At The Game Fair
There was so much! Honestly I don’t think you can see everything in a whole day. We spent three days there and only got a glimpse of what it was offering. But we loved every second. The kids were kept entertained. A trip to FAIRFAX AND FAVOR with their Magician had Meg enthralled whilst I tried on boots. And the amazing team on the SKINNERS stand provided us with an amazing lunch on Sunday including a very yummy dog paw shortbread!
There were lots of people offering samples and information but none were pushy, its all really friendly with a great atmosphere. I loved the fact that there was so much entertainment. Some shows have become very much open-air markets with little in the way of a show, but the Game Fair had so much going on!
LWDG Meet-Ups
Each day I was honoured to meet lots of our LWDG Members. I had the privilege of sharing time on some beautiful stands with owners who were incredibly welcoming to us, handing out drinks and taking time to chat to everyone.
Friday we had an incredible hour with Hollie at IN THE COUNTRY, Saturday we were with Sorrel and Cathryn in ON THE PEG, and we finished Sunday with Emma of EMMA BROWN TWEED, and Claire from PURDEY & SLOANE. Below are photos of some of the lovely ladies, gents and doggies I got to spend time with.
We cannot thank these companies enough for hosting us, so please go over their websites and see what they have to offer. Without them, we couldn’t have chatted to as many of you as we did. We are truly grateful. Whilst we were with them, we got to see first-hand their gorgeous products!
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