The Royal Welsh Show, one story at a time

Greg Thomas

The 2015 Royal Welsh Show will see the continuation of the ‘Agricultural Shows: Driving and Displaying Rural Change’ project, by Greg Thomas a PhD researcher in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University.

Working closely with the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, the project has so far generated two reports, the ‘Royal Welsh Show 2014 Visitor Survey’ and the ‘Royal Welsh Show 2014 Trader Survey’.

These reports have provided vital feedback about the Show to the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and will help to shape the future direction of the show.

Steve Hughson, Chief Executive of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society said: “It is fantastic that Greg is doing a PhD on the Royal Welsh Show and proof, if it were needed, of the strength of the Royal Welsh brand.”

At the 2015 Show (20th – 23rd July), Greg will be undertaking the ‘Humans of the Royal Welsh Show’ project. Inspired by the success of ‘Humans of New York’, this will tell the stories of the ordinary, and the extraordinary, covering all aspects of, and all groups of people that attend the Royal Welsh Show and make the event the grand spectacle it is.

Greg said: “For some the Royal Welsh Show is a week of work, for others it is a week of play. For many it is an annual day out, and for the competitors the Show is a consolidation of almost a years worth of work. Every visitor to the Show has their own story, a different story with the Royal Welsh Show being the common factor, bringing them together in a celebration of all that is great about agriculture and Wales. Through this project, and utilising social media, I hope to tell as many of these stories as possible, to demonstrate to the wider world why the Royal Welsh Show is so special”.

Throughout the Show, these stories will told on Facebook using the ‘Humans of the Royal Welsh Show’ page - and on Twitter using the account ‘@HumansOfTheRWS’. Members of the public are invited to like and follow these pages and leave their comments and views during the week.

In addition, the summer of 2015 will see Greg undertake a series of interviews about the Royal  Welsh Show with key figures from the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society and wider rural Wales. If you would like to be part of the project, have a story to share, or any interesting memories about the Royal Welsh Show then please get in touch with Greg.

It is hoped that this research will establish the benefits that agricultural shows bring to rural areas, their wider role in rural change, the way agricultural shows bring together town and country and also their role in facilitating relations between farmers and the Welsh Government.

If anyone would like any further information of the PhD project, to contribute, or to get in touch with Greg, full contact details can be found here.

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