The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society has announced it will postpone this year’s Balmoral Show as coronavirus (Covid-19) numbers continue to rise in Northern Ireland.

Record crowds of 120,000 attended the 2019 Balmoral Show. The show was due to take place from May 13-16, but instead, will this year take place in August.

As of 2:00pm on Monday, March 16, testing in Northern Ireland has resulted in seven new positive cases, bringing the total number of positive cases of Covid-19 in the region to 52.

Staff and management of the Ulster Farmers’ Union also made the call this afternoon (March 16) to cancel all internal UFU events and meetings.

A spokesperson from the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society said: “The Balmoral Show in partnership with Ulster Bank will be postponed until Wednesday to Saturday, August 19-22, 2020.

We are currently in uncertain times following the recent outbreak of COVID-19 and the health of our stakeholders and visitors remains our key priority. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

More to follow.