Preparations for the 123^rd Devon County Show, which will be held on May 17-19 at the Westpoint showground, Exeter, are well underway and reveal an exceptionally busy line-up of farming, food, rural life and entertainment.

“The Show is a once-a-year opportunity to experience the full variety and richness of life in Devon,” said Show Secretary Ollie Allen.

There will be thousands of farm animals and horses, a huge food and drink pavilion, a fabulous floral art, gardens and rural crafts feature, a busy countryside area, a wide variety of exciting and entertaining displays and, for the farmer visitor, plenty of agricultural machinery to look at.

A new feature is the ‘Watering Hole’; visitors will be able to tuck into local food and drink whilst listening to a packed programme of music. On Thursday evening visitors will be able to stay late and listen to the ‘Queen tribute’ band ‘Rhapsody’ and on Friday night, ‘Sparks’ will be providing live band music to dance the night away!

Visitors will also be invited to take part in the celebrations for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, which takes place on Show Saturday (19 May). 

“We are planning the greatest Royal wedding party in the county!” said Ollie. “There will be a big screen in The Watering Hole, showing live TV coverage, lots of bunting, a mass confetti throw, a wedding headgear competition and the chance to send your good wishes to the happy couple by tying a tag to the Royal wedding trees, either in the Crafts & Gardens Pavilion or the BBC Devon feature.  Afterwards the tags plus two suitable tree saplings will be sent to the ‘happy couple’ as a present from the Devon County Show visitors.” 

A packed entertainment programme sees the return to the main arena of the mighty Monster Trucks display team, the grand parade of livestock and a new feature, Zorb football. 

Some of Devon's leading marine conservation groups will be bringing the Devon coastlines to the Show for the first time; the Ocean Discovery Zone will have life-size models of marine life from the county’s coastal and ocean ecosystems.

The whole show is family friendly. Children can watch the miracle of chicks hatching, and meet plenty of other young animals and get hands-on at the children’s farm run by Farm Wise or take part in the ‘Show Trail’ competition across the showground. 

There are plenty of opportunities for the visitors to get involved with activities with expert tuition from tractor driving to having-a-go on the 4 x 4 course or trying archery, fly fishing and target shooting. 

The Show continues to offer free admission to children on Saturday; up to two children (aged 5-15) will be admitted free on Saturday when accompanied by a paying adult.

Visit www.devoncountyshow.co.uk to order.