Record Entries for Bath & West Show
Record horse entries have given preparations for this year's Royal Bath & West Show a huge boost, and with show jumping entries expected around the 300 mark, new classes, the fast and furious scurry-driving, Horse of the Year Show qualifiers, the popular Inter-Hunt Relay, the Heavy Horse Centre, the Pony Club Games and a special parade to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the British Horse Society, organisers are confidently looking forward to welcoming over 2,500 horses to the Show for four days of equestrian excitement not to be missed.
Over 160,000 people are expected to the Show which is sponsored again by EDF Energy and where highlights include the Dog Show - bigger and better than ever before - which will be a Premier Open Show with some of the Best of Breeds qualifying for Crufts 2008.
Main ring action includes the Army Air Corps Blue Eagle Helicopter Display Team and the Band of the Royal Signals. And the daredevil Human Cannonball - David Smith Junior, "The Bullet" from Missouri - will be fired over 100 feet high in the air to land in the main ring! He will don his safety helmet, slide down the barrel of his cannon, begin a nail-biting countdown and then be fired high into the air into a distant landing net. Smith (30), and his father - David Smith Senior - have thrilled audiences worldwide with their breath-taking performances. This will be David Junior's first ever appearance in the UK.
Also flying high will be French ornithologist Christian Moullec who held the crowds spellbound at last year's Show with his incredible display of geese flying in formation behind his microlight and who makes a welcome return.
The Wurzels will be performing their new version of their hit "I Am A Cider Drinker" on the first day of the Show, and His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent will be visiting the Show on the Friday, June 1st.
Canoeing, the Heavy Horse Centre, the action-packed Imagineering Fair, the wild wolves, Wookey Hole's dinosaurs and the Orkneys are also all back by public demand, and with over 1000 tradestands, the Bath & West Railway, the popular art exhibition, the very best of food and drink on offer and the country's finest livestock on parade, the show is not to be missed.
The talents and tastes of the regions are highlighted again with Wealth of Wiltshire, Celebrating Somerset, and Best of Bath showcasing the best of the West. The Alpaca classes have been extended to run over three days instead of one and a half - making the show the venue for the largest gathering of alpacas outside Peru.
Last year's popular Sustainability Area has been expanded into an exciting new Eco-Zone, focussing on wind, solar, biomass, biofuel, construction and green consumables - and there is also a sustainable transport challenge and parade featuring vehicles which derive their power from renewable energy.
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