Ahead of the 2026 Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show, Dorset Life’s editor Laura takes a look inside one of her personal agricultural show highlights – the Horticulture, Homecraft and Handicraft marquee, where fiercely-contested classes of home-grown vegetables, baking, crafts and children’s entries prove just as compelling as the action in the main arena:
There is a point in every agricultural show when someone in our family will suggest that perhaps we have seen everything and it might be time to go home. They are probably wrong.
Because we probably haven’t been to the Horticulture & Handicraft marquee yet.
For me, this is not an optional extra. You cannot simply glance through the entrance, observe that there appear to be some impressive onions and carry on towards the exit. I WILL force my family inside. Because there are vegetables to inspect. Cakes to assess. Things have been knitted, grown, baked, painted and crafted. And there will almost certainly be an assortment of unnecessary – brilliant, hilarious – animals or vehicles made from fruit and veg.
And, crucially, there are judges’ cards to read.
At a recent show, I spent some time admiring an exceptionally good entry in the ‘decorate a wellie’ competition before reading the judge’s comments, realising it was supposed to be a children’s competition, and discovering that the creator of the stunning wellie/floral arrangement was allegedly four years old. The judge’s passive-aggressive admiration for this ‘alleged four-year-old’s talents’ was a thing of beauty. And the childish painting on the wellie next door was a rightful winner.
Where the Show belongs to everyone
The grand arena entertainment naturally commands attention. There are magnificent livestock champions, skilled riders and displays designed to make thousands of people stop and watch. But tucked away in the competitive marquees is my favourite, quieter side of the agricultural show. Where the achievement might be the runner beans that somehow survived the summer, the cake that rose exactly as it should, a photograph someone is proud of or a child’s first attempt at making a stick man.
Between you and me, somewhere at Frome this year, there is a particularly important pumpkin. Its young grower has been waiting until he could produce one big enough to enter. This year, finally, he has … except his mum forgot to submit the entry. Fortunately, the Competitions Manager has apparently added Dream Maker to her job description and accepted a late entry. So the pumpkin is going to the Show.
Will it win? No idea. That’s beside the point. Because next Saturday morning there will be one small boy walking into that marquee knowing that his pumpkin is in the Frome Show.
The serious business of competitive vegetables
None of which means the competition isn’t taken seriously. Agricultural show marquees contain a glorious mixture of pride, expertise and extremely specific standards. Years of experience can go into producing something which, to the casual observer, looks like … a nice potato.
Then the judge arrives. Suddenly we’re examining uniformity, condition and presentation, discovering all manner of qualities we never realised a potato possessed.
You don’t need to know anything about horticulture to enjoy it. Wander along the rows and choose your own champion before looking for the judge’s card. Find the entry you think was robbed. Read the comments. Become unexpectedly invested in somebody else’s courgettes.
Children’s classes are even more dangerous. You pop in for five minutes and emerge half an hour later with strong opinions about vegetable dinosaurs.
Perhaps that’s why I love these marquees so much. Every exhibit represents someone’s time. Someone grew it. Someone baked it. Someone knitted it. Someone has spent years perfecting that skill. Someone else has entered for the very first time. And one little boy finally grew his pumpkin big enough.
So when you’re planning your day at Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show, of course watch the arena displays. Meet the livestock. Explore the Cheese Pavilion. Eat something delicious. But don’t announce that you’re going home until you’ve been to Horticulture & Handicrafts. There are judges’ cards to read. And we need to see that pumpkin.
Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show takes place on Saturday 12th September at West Woodlands Showground.
