New Last-minute Entertainment Addition at Grasmere Sports

Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show has announced a last-minute addition to its already packed programme of events, which will emphasise its long-established roots within the farming community and add even more value to a great day out.

The show, which takes place on Sunday August 25, over the Bank Holiday weekend, will be welcoming the Fell Gather Road Show, with its strong focus on hill farming and sheep.

The Fell Gather Road Show will comprise a display of sheep breeds, with particular emphasis on Cumbrian breeds, including the iconic Herdwick, and fascinating commentary on each. The world of hill farming will be brought to life, as the links between this and our food, landscape, nature and cultural heritage are described. Demonstrations of sheep shearing will also engage the crowd and there will be a chance to watch wool spinning and see a display of Lakeland Tweed products.

Representatives from the Herdwick Sheep Breeders Association, the Farmer Network, the Lake District National Park, the National Trust and the Foundation for Common Land will be present and visitors will have the opportunity to meet both shepherds and sheep.

This added element to the show will nestle alongside the other family things to do, including circus entertainment from Dimitri, musical entertainment from the Fat Cat Brass Band and Badman Soul, a range of amazing and unusual bikes to ride courtesy of Wonder Wheelers, a fun dog show and craft and food stalls.

It will also add even more value to an event that also offers parking completely free of charge, to remove one of the major frustrations of families wanting a cost-effective day out.  To further that aim, online tickets, bought in advance, include a family ticket option, which costs less than buying individual tickets, on the door, on the day.

The family entertainment also includes a funfair, with the teacups being attributed with helping last year’s fell running ladies winner, Charlotte Rawstron, sprint to success on the homeward stretch of her fell race.  This Senior Guides race will be the culmination of a packed programme of fell running on the day, complemented by numerous track races, for all ages.

There will be trophies for the best-placed local and, as with all events at Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show, anyone can enter on the day.  A special prize of £500 is available to anyone who wins the Senior Guides race in a time that beats Fred Reeves’ long-standing record from the 1970s, or who does the same and betters the record set by Victoria Wilkinson, in the ladies race.

All eyes will also be on the wrestling arena, where the show will again welcome a contingent of wrestlers from Brittany, and another from Iceland, to compete in the Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling bouts. Although diverse from their Gouren and Glima wrestling styles, these competitors relish competing outdoors at Grasmere, in front of a crowd, as explained in a podcast published this week and available at https://bit.ly/3X6aj9A

There will this year be a special trophy dedicated to Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling legend, Roger Robson, and available in the mixed boys and girls Under-12s event.  Roger’s contribution, and the desire that the young competitors will have to lift his trophy, is described in another podcast about wrestling, also just published and featuring wrestling organisers, Linda Scott and Robert Wharton, and 9-times world champion, Connie Hodgson (https://bit.ly/4dp8daH)

The Under-18 Boys (10 stone) World Championship will also be held, with a new champion crowned.

To encourage participation in the wrestling events, Grasmere Sports is also offering £50 to anyone aged  over 11, who is a first-time wrestler and who gives it a go and progresses beyond the first round.  If more than one such first time wrestler progresses beyond the first round, the prize will be to the most advanced wrestler, or shared between wrestlers.

Hound trailing will be the other big draw for those attending for sporting action, with this sport having captivated crowds last year, when live commentary was introduced.

“Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show Manager, Richard Hooper, says: “We are delighted by the confirmation of the Fell Gather Roadshow’s attendance, with this really emphasising our close connections to the farming community and rural life here in the Lake District.  

“We are doing all we can to introduce new people to this way of life and our traditions and it is great to listen to the recent podcasts and hear how so many more young people are embracing backhold wrestling and how our Breton and Icelandic competitors just love wrestling at Grasmere Sports and taking on the backhold style. 

“Whatever the weather, we intend to put on a fabulous show, at as an affordable price as possible, for any family, whether local, visiting the Lake District, or making a day out of it in the car.  With free parking too, it’s one less expense to have to pay.”

To grab the best-priced tickets for this event, head to www.grasmeresports.com before 7pm on Saturday, August 24.

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Editors notes

Grasmere Lakeland Sports and Show is an iconic event taking place in the heart of the English Lake District on the August Bank Holiday weekend. Its long historic roots date back to 1868 and it is renowned for its fell running, hound trails and Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling competitions, as well as being a fantastic family day out.