ORGANISERS of the Royal Highland Show have reported its largest-ever attendance, with 217,000 people through the gates of Edinburgh’s Ingliston Showground over the event’s four-day run last week.
In recent years, alongside its more traditional displays of horses, livestock and farm machinery, ‘the Highland’ has become a major showcase of Scottish food and drink, and its provision of licensed bars has been finessed to provide a more upmarket experience than was on offer in the past.
This involved creating more, but smaller bars, distributed around the Show, with specialities and themes to appeal to different demographics, alongside live entertainment and improved infrastructure and security.
Last year, Scottish brewer Innis & Gunn came aboard as the show’s brewery partner and principal beer supplier, putting Scottish-produced beer at the centre of the Highland’s hospitality offer, with its partner C&C Group providing the wines, spirits, cider, and Tennent’s Light.
This year, the report from the 20 bars selling Innis & Gunn beer across Ingliston – including the Show’s first and only Container Bar alongside the Sheep Shearing arena hosting the international ‘Golden Shears’ championship, and a huge new open air evening music event within the Show called The Royal Highland Hoolie – was that the record public turnout plus the warm weather had helped shift no less than 200,000 pints.
Innis & Gunn will next be setting up al fresco as the official beer supplier for the 2023 Edinburgh Tattoo, where it will be running a bar service (with pre-orders) from 4th til the 26th August.
CEO and master brewer of Innis & Gunn, Dougal Gunn Sharp, said: “Sponsoring these iconic events reinforces our commitment to showcasing and supporting the very best of Scotland whilst ensuring that visitors from home or abroad enjoy the very best experience of our award-winning beers.
“We are an active champion of Scottish produce; we brew in Scotland using only the finest Scottish ingredients working with local suppliers, so the Royal Highland Show provides the perfect platform to support the rural industry and enhance the visitor experience.”
Event Manager, Fiona Wallace added: “Working with companies like Innis & Gunn helps enhance our offering to our customers and sit parallel to our core values, the promotion and celebration of the best in Scottish produce and commitment to local suppliers.”
The Royal Highland Show is the flagship fundraising event for its organisers, the Royal Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland. Its Head of Show, David Tennant, commented: “As we wrap up another phenomenal Royal Highland Show, we are delighted to have welcomed a record-breaking number of visitors through the gates. The strong demand is testament to the fact that the Show has major appeal way beyond the loyal farming community – anyone and everyone can find something to enjoy, no matter your interest.”
High-profile figures attending the Royal Highland Show included HRH Anne, the Princess Royal; First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf; Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair, Mark Spencer; Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack; and Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon.
Of these luminaries, SLTN is only in a position to confirm that Ms Gougeon partook of Innis & Gunn’s bar offering, in the ‘Bavarian’ bar, alongside a substantial party of National Farmers Union Scotland officials, ScotGov staff, young farmers, and at least one journalist.
