HOW about some news that could brighten up a cold and gloomy January day for any Powys resident – Royal Welsh Show 2022 tickets are now available online.

The Royal Welsh Show – the centrepiece spectacle in the annual Powys events calendar – is set to make its return this year after a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking place from Monday-Thursday, July 18-21 this year, the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society (RWAS) is eager to welcome visitors back to the showground in Llanelwedd, just outside Builth Wells, this summer for its pinnacle event of the year.

The annual event is an action-packed four-day festival compiling the best of Welsh farming and agriculture, including exciting competitions, livestock, forestry, horticulture, crafts, countryside sports, shopping, food and drink, a 12-hour programme of non-stop entertainment, attractions, displays and much more.

Highlights in the main ring will again include the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery performing their musical drive, one of the most spectacular displays of horsemanship in the world. Also performing will be the Falcons Parachute display team with their exciting free fall display at speeds up to 120mph, while Paul Hannam returns with his thrilling and popular Quad Bike Stunt Show.

And early bird tickets are now available online. An adult day single ticket costs £28, with a child day ticket costing £5. Children under 5 go free. Ticket prices go up to £30 in June, so go to the RWAS website to get your tickets at the early bird discounted price now – visit https://rwas.ticketsrv.co.uk/tickets/269.

The news is a far cry from 12 months ago, when despite making excellent progress with the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine in Powys, organisers took the decision to cancel the Royal Welsh for a second year running – with the virus understandably shutting down events across Wales in 2020.

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Last year’s shelving of the event meant Mid Wales lost a “huge part of its social fabric”, according to farmer and local county councillor David Price, who said he was “bitterly sad” about the news. Builth guesthouse owner Tony Tye, meanwhile, said the cancellation would lead to him “writing off” 2021, just as he and wife Sandra had been forced to do in 2020.

Show organisers had announced with “deep regret and careful consideration” that the event was being postponed until 2022.

With the roll-out of the vaccine in Powys going smoothly and with the event six months away from last January, most people locally and the countless others nationwide who flock to Powys had been hoping the Royal Welsh could go ahead.

Plans are also underway for the Smallholding and Countryside Festival to go ahead, which takes place on the weekend of May 21-22. The weekend-long event is a celebration of rural life and country living with smallholding pursuits at its heart. Tickets are also on sale for this event now on the website.

For more information on both events or to purchase tickets, visit www.rwas.wales or www.cafc.cymru.

  • This article originally appeared on our sister site the County Times.