ENGLISH WINTER FAIR CANCELLED

A message from Richard Williams, Chief Executive of the Staffordshire and Birmingham Agricultural Society:

It is with regret that, in light of the continuing spread of the Blue Tongue Virus, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel the English Winter Fair on 16th & 17th November 2024.

The Restriction Zone (RZ) is currently some 10 miles from the Staffordshire County border and 30 miles from the Showground. Accordingly, given the fact that the disease is continuing to spread as a result of the unseasonable mild weather, the risk of the RZ extending to encompass the Showground is too great. In particular if the Showground were to be incorporated into the RZ during the Show, livestock would have to remain on site until testing and licencing procedures were completed.

This would also be the situation if a case of Blue Tongue was suspected during the Show. If the Showground were to be encompassed within the RZ prior to the Show the event would still not be able to be held as the advice from DEFRA is the movement of livestock should only be for essential purposes.

In the final analysis our main concern is that we would not in any way expose our exhibitor’s livestock to the risk of disease which we believe would be the case if the event were to go ahead.