Nantwich Show signs 10-year deal with Reaseheath College

Nantwich Show organisers have signed a 10-year contract to stage the event at Reaseheath College, securing its future for at least another decade.

Town councillors heard how this year’s show had been a huge success, with almost 10,000 people through the gates.

In total, there were 185 volunteers helping put the show on who put in a huge 4,000 volunteering hours between them.

There were also 60 sponsors, 240 traders and 31 attractions.

Michael-John Parkin, chair of show organisers the Nantwich Agricultural Society, told Nantwich Town Council last night that signing the lease with Reaseheath was a massive step.

He added: “We have entered into a 10-year contract which really safeguards the show and we are really pleased to have done that.

“We’ve had extremely good feedback from people who attended and from traders and exhibitors, and we are already taking bookings for 2025.”

This year’s show was blessed with warm and sunny weather, which Mr Parkin agreed was such a key factor in the show’s success.

“The show has suffered in previous years through bad weather and we’ve suffered big losses as a result,” he added.

The agreement with Reaseheath will see them pay the college around £5,000 each year to house the show on their property, as well as a share of the profits.

That compares to when the show was held on Dorfold Park, when they paid around £45,000 each year, said Mr Parkin.

This year’s show made a profit of around £40,000. This enabled organisers to repay the whole £4,000 grant it received from the town council, as per their agreement.

“We’ve managed to build up some funds behind us,” he added.

“So if we do have a bad year, when we could lose up to £60-70,000, we’ve got some money behind us to cope with that.

“I’d like to thank the town council for their support.”

The show also saw the return of a small locally-based cheese competition which proved popular with around 50 entries.

Mr Parkin said the cheese competition would remain, but that they had no intention of scaling it up to the size of the International Cheese Show which was formerly part of the Nantwich Show at Dorfold Park.

(image courtesy of Peter Robinson)