TWO agricultural shows are planning to go ahead this summer after a year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Weardale Agricultural Show and Wolsingham Show are planning to go ahead at the end of August and the first weekend in September.

Wolsingham Show is one of the largest shows to take place in County Durham.

The show is a big attraction in Weardale taking place over an entire weekend.

The Committee has invested heavily in upgrading facilities over recent years and intend carrying out further works to improve the show.

Durham County Councillor for Weardale, John Shuttleworth has given Wolsingham Show £5000 from his Council Neighbourhood Budget towards these improvements.

Cllr Shuttleworth said: "All of our Shows in Weardale are an important event which bring people together.

"After the last twelve months everyone is ready to get back to some form of normality and I sincerely hope the show goes ahead."

David Briggs, Chairman of the Show Committee said: “Due to the success of the Covid vaccine programme and the fall in cases we are pretty hopeful the show will take place.

“We are optimistic that by September things will have settled down, though we are still guided by official government rules.

“We may have to put somethings in place but this show will go ahead.

“We are over the moon by John’s grant and we can upgrade the show field accordingly.”

The show is an agricultural show but will also feature crafts, donkey rides, vintage vehicles, birds of prey, Diggerland, dog agility, artisan food market, live music, and more.

Some of the money from the grant will also go towards upgrading The Barn.

The Barn is a part of the show field that can be hired out by bands, markets and shows.

The money will be used to put a new floor in.

Mr Briggs added: "The Barn is great but the floor can be very uneven sometimes and we wanted to do something to remedy that."

Weardale Agricultural Show takes place on the last Saturday in August, at St John's Chapel in Upper Weardale, and will hopefully take place this year.

The show was cancelled last year due to the pandemic but some competitions continued online.

The show relies on word of mouth, with much work being carried out by local farmers and volunteers.

It is currently in need of new wooden pay booths and safety fencing costing just under £1,500 to assist with the efficient running of the show.

Cllr Shuttleworth added:"All the agricultural shows are an annual event which attract many locals and visitors which actually help the local economy.

"The events bring everyone together and after the past year, everyone will want to enjoy the Weardale Show, together with Wolsingham and Stanhope Shows.

"The funding I have given will assist this small show to move forward and I wish it well, and thank all those involved for there continuing efforts."

Weardale Agricultural Show is aiming to go ahead on Saturday August 28.

Wolsingham Show will go ahead on the weekend of Saturday September 4.