Festival of Hunting returns on Wednesday 21st July 2021

The East of England Agricultural Society, organisers of The Festival of Hunting, along with the Chairman and committee of The Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show Society are delighted to announce they are planning for this popular rural event to return to the East of England Showground, Peterborough, on Wednesday 21^st July, supported by the Countryside Alliance.

The Festival of Hunting plays host to the prestigious Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show, the blue-ribboned competition in the summer showing calendar for Foxhound packs up and down the country. As well as the Foxhound classes, the festival also celebrates Beagles, Harriers, Basset Hounds, Drag Hounds and Blood Hounds, making it the one of the largest shows of working scent hounds anywhere in the world. Having missed the 2020 event due to the pandemic, the Festival of Hunting looks forward to welcoming back many returning packs, as well as some who have not showed at Peterborough for a great many years.

The Festival of Hunting does not just celebrate the hounds, but also the wider hunting community. A Young Handler class, sponsored by Countryman Feeds, returns for a second time, and gives the next generation an opportunity to show off their skills at hound showing; and the highly competitive senior and junior Inter-Hunt Relay pits hunts from all over the UK in a "knock-out" style competition to find out the quickest and most skilful team of four riders across a set course of obstacles. This year's competition is sponsored by Honri Hats and includes prizes from The Old Hunting Habit and Rowen Barbary Horse Feeds.

In between watching the hound classes or inter-hunt relay, spectators can enjoy a wide range of shopping amongst the trade stands, or food and drink from local suppliers whilst catching up with friends and acquaintances from across the hunting community.

Alison Queenborough, Secretary of The Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show Society, said: "We are really pleased to be able to plan for the 133^rd Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show and the Festival of Hunting to take place this July; it is always a popular date in the hunting and rural calendar, and like so many other events, was very much missed by the community in 2020." Alison continued: "It is particularly rewarding to see entries from packs who have not taken part in the Festival of Hunting for several years, and in some of cases, are showing for the first time; clearly the competitive spirit is very much alive and kicking!"

"As well as a full schedule of classes on the day, we are also delighted to welcome a fantastic range of trade stands, many of which are small rural businesses that have done really well to survive the challenges of the last 12 months and we hope these will be well supported by those attending," continued Alison.

In addition to the traditional hound judging, inter-hunt relay and young handler classes, the 2021 event also sees the return of the Hunt Picnic Competition.

Admission to the Festival of Hunting will be by prior ticket sales only to comply with Track and Trace, with tickets available from www.festivalofhunting.com. All Covid-19 guidelines will be strictly followed by the event organisers. Entries for the foxhound show close on 11^th June.

*Entries close Wednesday 30th June at 3pm BST

Complimentary Festival of Hunting tickets for Gold Countryside Alliance Members

Gold members of the Countryside Alliance can now claim a free ticket (pair of tickets in the case of Gold Joint membership) to the Festival of Hunting. To claim your free ticket please fill out the form here.

The deadline to request tickets is Wednesday 30th June and tickets will be sent out after this date. If you experience any problems completing the form, please email your details to [email protected].