The Dorset Spring Show returns to Puddletown on 9th and 10th May, opening the county’s outdoor events season with a programme that leans further into spectacle for 2026 – without losing its rural roots.
Headlining the action is freestyle motocross rider Jamie Squibb, whose stunt team will take over the Spring Arena with high jumps, back flips and precision landings, including leaps of more than 30 metres onto a lorry-mounted ramp, setting the tone for a show increasingly comfortable mixing countryside tradition with high-energy entertainment.
It’s all happening down on the farm
The show organisers (the same team who bring us the County Show every year) have been working hard to grow the Spring Show into a cracking way to start the season. New additions are everywhere this year. Fire dancing performances will light up the Saturday evening, while a life-sized 13ft dinosaur will roam the showground, adding a slightly surreal edge to the weekend’s attractions.
For those keen to get involved rather than just watch, the Circus Skills area offers hands-on sessions alongside live demonstrations, and a pottery workshop led by Channel 4’s The Great Pottery Throw Down contestant Dan Sandham brings something more measured to the mix.
Elsewhere, the Heavy Horse Village makes its debut, celebrating the scale and strength of traditional working breeds, while chainsaw wood carving demonstrations and a new music stage – running into the evening on Saturday – give the show a festival-like feel. Performers across the weekend range from local bands to high-energy ska and rock acts, extending the day well beyond the main arena timetable.
Everything you’d expect
Despite the expansion, the show remains firmly grounded on the farm. There is an enlarged Spring Farm for 2026, and this year visitors can enjoy meeting lambs, calves, pigs, alpacas and goats. Plus, of course, there are the ever-popular sheepdog displays, gun dog demonstrations and livestock showcases.
There’s always a brilliant unpredictability to big county shows – particularly when animals and crowds meet in the same space – and it’s part of what continues to draw families back each year.
Around the showground, traditional attractions sit alongside the newer additions: it wouldn’t be a Dorset show without the terrier racing (which is always a highlight, and rarely actually involves terriers. Any dog can join in. The ensuing chaos is always a highlight), axemen’s demonstrations, BMX displays and steam engine rides all feature in a programme that rarely stands still for long.
Food and drink remain a central part of the day out, with an expanded Food & Drink Village and two Food Halls offering everything from local produce to street food, while shopping areas, craft stalls and homecraft competitions add to a show that rewards wandering as much as planning.
Now in its third year, more than 10,000 visitors and nearly 200 traders are expected across the weekend. Organiser James Cox told Dorset Life: ‘I’m so excited for Spring Show, and I’m proud of how quickly it has become a fixture in Dorset’s calendar. It marks the shift into longer days and busier months, and we can’t wait to throw open the farm gates to everyone!’
For all the new additions, the formula remains straightforward: animals, action and plenty to see in between – a full day out that leans just as comfortably into mud and livestock as it does into flame throwing and back flips.
The show takes place at Birch Lane Showground, near Puddletown (DT2 7LN), with free parking available. Children go FREE (aged 15 and under), adult tickets £14 until 2nd May. Full details and tickets can be found at dorsetspringshow.co.uk.
