Photos at North Yorkshire Country Fairs

Written By Ed Clews
A cow being prepared for competition at the North Yorkshire County Agricultural Show in June 2026.

I’ve been aiming to get out and channel my inner Alec Soth (or Martin Parr, obs) for a few years and go photograph some of the many country and county fairs near me. Now that we’re in June, we’re well into the country fair season that runs into September. 

The last few years I’ve not been able to get out to any at all due to a mixture of car availability and moving/sorting out the house. This year I’m determined to get stuck into at least a couple and especially the Yorkshire Show. Despite growing up next to the Great Yorkshire Showground I’ve never actually been once, I just remember it as being the week where everyone walks to school or work as Harrogate and the surrounding area just gets completely gridlocked.

Owners of Upsall Polled Pedigree Shorthorns waiting for the start of the competition at the country fair.

Visiting the North Yorkshire County Agricultural Show 

The first one I’ve been able to get out to is the North Yorkshire County Agricultural Show which is about an hour and a bit drive from me up in Otterington Hall midway between Thirsk and Northallerton. There’s a big old list of country and county fairs you can look up region by region and there’s a fair few near me within accessible distance. I have taken photos at fairs before but the last one I can remember properly doing was the precursor to Countryside Live at the Great Yorkshire showground at least ten years ago and that was in winter.

This fair happened to be at the start of a heat wave we’re currently having: at the time of writing it's looking to hit 39C in some parts of the country later this week. It wasn’t that hot but was still incredibly toasty. I got there at 8.30am just as it was opening and it was heating up already. This also meant two other things:

  • Blazing bright sunshine which made it a bit tricky to shoot in parts (people with white exhibitors coats especially). Combine this with lots of hard shadows as well so I’d have to see how I get round it.

  • Pretty much everyone already on site was wilting by lunch so I left just after that. There’s not much point taking pics when both the photographer and the subject are a tired sweaty mess.

If you’ve never been to a country or county fair before, it’s a mixture of people doing the ultimate flex by seeing who has the prettiest cow or sheep, showing off old and new tractors, intensely judged cake and bun competitions and everyone stuffing their gullet. Sometimes you get outlier competitions like Fanciest Pigeon. Also, depending on where you go, there’s also lots of people pretending to be from the country when they’ve really just bought an expensive jacket and a Range Rover that’s never been anywhere near a field. Or (a rarer sighting now) they’ve bought themselves a farm to help launder their reputation back into the public’s good books.

Three men waiting for the show to start in the main ring.
Two men holding cows during judging at the country fair.
A woman waiting with a fluffy white cow before the start of competition at the North Yorkshire Country Agricultural Show in June 2026.
A cow with prize rosettes at the county fair.
A man holding the lead of a cow during competition judging at the county show.
A cow with a red rosette after winning a prize at the cow competition.
A man texting on his phone in the shade of the craft marquee during a hot summers day.
The side of a black and white mottled textured cow.
Close up of a judge during the cow competition. He is wearing a tweed jacket and tie and is in deep concentration.
Back of a man wearing a tweed jacket with no sleeves and holding his hands behind his back.
A man in a brown hat and white show coat untying a cow from a rail before leading it into the show pen.
A man dressed all in black with a black stetson hat leading a tiny black pony through a field on a baking hot day.
A young man in a white coat holding his cows lead tight during judging.
A man in a straw hat adjusts his glasses while he walks away from the judging pens at the North Yorkshire County Agricultural Show. He is holding a clipboard and rosettes.
A young woman in a long white coat standing with a fluffy black sheep as contestants wait in a line during judging.
A woman in a red velvet cap and sunglasses with a purple jacket wrapped round her waist vapes while watching the sheep competition.
People in the shade of a tree next to the sheep pens. Two men are casually chatting, a woman holds a baby while talking to her friend sitting on the floor and a boy in an orange cap leans over to look at the sheep in the pen.
Three people grapple with a rambunctious sheep as it tries to run around the pens.
A historical reenactor in a long red jacket with rifle chats to a couple in the shade of the trees.
A reenactor in long brown jacket and straw hat holding a round string instrument while chatting to people.
Three people sitting in the shade of a big green umbrella eating. They are sitting behind a small red steam engine.
A man in a brown hat eats an ice cream in the shade next to a bright red vintage tractor.
Ed Clews

Ed Clews is a York-based photographer working throughout Yorkshire and the UK.

He takes editorial, lifestyle and commercial pictures, specialising in people, places and food.

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