'A proud day' - Society president praises volunteers after 'fantastic' Black Isle Show
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Black Isle Farmers Society president Jock McKenzie has praised the work of volunteers at this year's Black Isle Show, hailing the event as a "proud day" for all involved.
Speaking from the showground while participating in this year's post-show clean-up, Mr McKenzie said: "It was a fantastic show. It was a proud day for myself and it was very humbling to see all the folk pulling together and giving up their time to create such a wonderful day."
Early estimates suggest that over 20,000 people attended the 2023 show, with people coming from as far as New Zealand to compete.
Among the highlights, Mr McKenzie expressed his pleasure at being able to welcome the family of a Black Isle Show stalwart to this year's event.
He added: "It was a poignant year for us all as our head sheep shearing steward, Donald Fraser of Dunain Mains, passed away suddenly last year. This was the first year having the event without him, which was different for the whole committee as we didn't know how he ran that side of the show, but it was lovely to have his family along.
"His wife Mary, who has volunteered for many years too, presented prizes on Wednesday which meant a lot to us as a society. It was one of the saddest things for us to have the show without Donald, but having Mary here was definitely one of the highlights."
McGregor of Millfield, a Highland Pony owned by Sara-Jane Forbes from Ballindalloch, was named as this year's Champion of Champions after extensive livestock judging.
“Explosive” action from Stuntworld International across three shows between Wednesday and Thursday was a feature of the show’s main-ring entertainment. The stunt performers wowed spectators with daring displays including a spectacular jump through a ball of fire.
Flower displays, kids’ races and a parade of vintage tractors then lit up the afternoon ahead of the grand parade of livestock.
As always, a wealth of trade stands were on display for spectators, subjected to judging on Thursday.
In the agricultural category, Mclaren Tractors took first place, while the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland finished as runners-up.
Dingwall and District Beekeepers were named as the top non-agricultural trader, with Honor Edward Needle Felt Artist placing first in the craft category, and the Ice and Fire Distillery topping the chart for food.
The event wasn't without its glitches. Delays caused by power issues and an e-ticketing setback on Thursday morning resulted in a “slowdown” of the admission process, but that did not dampen the mood as thousands made their way into the Mannsfield Showground.
Mr McKenzie added: "Problems on entry were admittedly a bit of a learning curve on our behalf. Several people were buying tickets online on their way to the show and we found out from the suppliers of the new equipment that ticket sales are accumulated before they are sent to us, in intervals. Next year pre-sales for tickets will only be available until the day before the show, and then people can buy tickets using card or cash at the show.
"We are still trying to work out the overall attendance for the day, but we will be in the region of 20,000–21,000 for Thursday. Numbers are wee bit back on last year, but last year was phenomenal."
Mr McKenzie notes that this year the show elected to ask for donations instead of charging for this year's Black Isle Show catalogue.
He added: "Not everyone may realise that the Black Isle Farmers' Society is actually a charity. We are all volunteers and we work with other charities to raise money on the day for causes such as RHET (Royal Highland Education Trust), Farmstrong – a mental health in farming charity, and farmers' charity RSABI. We have raised in the range of around £3500 for these charities by appealing for donations."
