Game Fair 2024 – the countryside comes together

The sun shone over three fabulous days as tens of thousands of country-minded people descended on the august parkland of Blenheim Palace for the 2024 Game Fair. At the Countryside Alliance stand, many old friends, new faces, members, supporters, politicians, and even some antis (!) dropped by to catch up and talk of the future of country pursuits and the rural way of life. Our thanks must go out to each and every person who visited the Countryside Alliance stand, for it is they who make the Game Fair so enjoyable to attend. 

Naturally, the prevailing topic of conversation was the future of field sports under the new government, and it was fortifying to hear so many give their wholehearted support to our campaigns for hunting, shooting and rural communities. Indeed, engagement from Labour and Conservative politicians was strong, with former Cabinet ministers, current Defra ministers and many more rural MPs dropping by our stand to get to grips with the many rural issues currently being discussed in Westminster. There was, nevertheless, an abundance of more light-hearted, less political talk, with everything from the market price of poultry, the worrying scarcity of Sealyham terriers, the catch records of West Country salmon rivers, and the dispelling mistruths about the lethality of steel shot covered. 

Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance took to the stage in the Carter Jonas theatre to discuss the Labour party’s approach to rural affairs with Fieldsports Channel’s Charlie Jacoby. Just over the river Glyme, the fishing village had celebrities of the fishing world giving talks and casting demonstrations. One pleasant sight at the Game Fair was the dauntingly long queue for The Game Chef’s pheasant goujons; as nice as locally farmed beef is, game meat rightly took centre stage at the Game Fair. This will have been welcome news for the Eat Wild team, headed by Louisa Clutterbuck who attended the Game Fair and did a superlative job of championing game and telling the world how they can encourage others to enjoy game too. 

Towards the palace was the hound ring, where packs of harriers, beagles, bassets and foxhounds were shown and saw great support. The falconers fared better in the hound ring than in the main ring, away from the blimps and tall marquees, and some spectacular aerobatics were witnessed. The main ring didn’t miss out, however, seeing some splendid displays of horsemanship and dog handling. 

The Game Fair 2024 was a huge success and a real show of rural unity in what could be period of political tumult. To the multitude who came to the Countryside Alliance stand this year, thank you for stopping by, see you again next year at Ragley Hall.