Spotlight On: Northumberland County Show

As the first major agricultural show of the year in the region, the Northumberland County Show holds a special place in the hearts of locals.

This year, the turnout was truly something to celebrate, welcoming an incredible 27,000 people to the showground – the most in over a decade, and well above the usual baseline.

So how do you keep a historic agricultural show thriving, while enhancing visitor safety, addressing the cost of living, and keeping traditional farming roots and community spirit alive and well?

We spoke with Kerry Robson, Show Secretary of the Northumberland County Show, to talk about how a mix of family-focused initiatives, careful planning, and reliable digital ticketing made their 2026 event a triumph.

What are the main goals when you’re preparing for the show? What are you hoping to achieve when it’s all over?

For any agricultural show, the main thing you need is a safe event.

You want an event where everybody on site – whether they are volunteers, staff, exhibitors or the general public – has had a good day, everybody has stayed safe, and everything that you put into practice is delivered.

Which we managed to do this year!

It was a really strong year for attendance – did that exceed expectations? 

It's always a bit of a case of 'wait and see'.

One of the good things with having a ticket platform like yourselves is that you can check how your advanced ticket sales are going in the run-up to the day – you have a feel as to how many people are going to be turning up. 

On the day, you just have to hope that people will come out, and the weather's massively influential on that. But we have quite a lot of hardy farmers and regulars up here that come out no matter what.

One of our biggest things we decided this year was to try to get as many families as possible, and provide as many free things for kids. Everything's so expensive at the minute, so we do whatever we can to help with the cost of living.

Was that successful in getting families to the show?

We definitely worked it out quite well this year.

We ran an Easter family ticket deal, and dropped the family ticket to £30, compared to £55 on the day, so it was a massive saving. We sold an astronomical amount of family tickets, which was great.

When you see all the photographs of the number of families and kids that were actually on the ground, it's really lovely. 

We had a farm discovery area for the first time this year, with lots of activities for kids – feeding animals, digging potatoes out of soil – it was really good. The number of kids that were in there doing all these activities was fantastic, because that's what they'll remember in years to come.

Have you seen changes in what visitors expect from a day out at a show like this? 

I think everybody wants value for money now. Having plenty of things on site that you don't have to pay for makes a big difference. We use social media to advertise that there are "50 free things to do on the show field" and things like that.

Also, our catering regulations are quite strict. Catering trucks have to supply us with a menu and prices before they turn up, so we know what they're offering.

Regarding the farming side, there just aren't as many family farms running anymore; a lot of farmers have sold up and moved on. We still look after them, but there seem to be fewer each year, which is a real shame. 

These agricultural shows aren't only about the farmers now; it's about education and getting people who maybe don't know as much about the livestock and that environment out there, and seeing it for real.

Were there any specific operational challenges this year, or anything new to think about?

You learn something new every year; it's never the same.

This year, one of the things we tried to introduce was more accessible parking. What we've learned is to actually take all vehicles off-site – that's the biggest thing I think going forward, especially with Martyn's Law coming into play next year.

We started registering vehicle registrations this year with help from the counter-terrorism police, which worked brilliantly. Everything's tightening up, and so it should really. We all need to be playing our part in keeping everyone safe.

How did you find your partnership with FIXR throughout the whole process?

We have been extremely pleased. From the initial setup through to event delivery, the platform was user-friendly and very efficient for our team and our visitors.

The online purchasing process was straightforward, the reporting tools gave us excellent visibility of ticket sales in the lead-up, and on event day the ticket scanning and entry management were efficient and dependable. That helped us welcome thousands of visitors with minimal delays.

The FIXR team also provided outstanding support. They were responsive, proactive, and always available to assist with any queries, which ensured everything ran smoothly before and during the show.

When does work start for next year?

We start planning properly for next year from September time. But we've already started to look at main arena attractions and booking in the charity groups that help with parking, clear up, and setup. So it’s already started!

If you're running a county show, fair, or any other event, get in touch to discuss how FIXR could help simplify operations and sell more tickets