The 75th annual Virginia Show will take place on Wednesday 24 August and it will also host the International Limousin Congress (ICL) with the Irish Limousin society.
Virginia is one of Ireland’s leading agricultural shows with over €40,000 of prize money up for grabs, including the €10,000 Diageo Baileys Irish Champion Dairy Cow Competition in Association with Glanbia Ingredients Ireland.
The ICL will see 220 delegates from 25 countries come together at Virginia Show to discuss topics such breed views, research, market and technical information
The biennial event was last held in Argentina in 2014 where Ireland was represented by a strong contingent of breeders.
Ray Carolan, a member of the Virginia show committee, said breeders from across the globe will travel to the show.
Breeders from Canada, America, New Zealand, Australia, Africa, Brazil and some European countries will travel to the congress.
“This event was held in Ireland 22 years ago in 1994, and the limousin cattle that are being bred today are miles ahead of limousin cattle of 20 years ago,” said Carolan.
The ICL will provide breeders with a platform to discuss topics and pool together their collective knowledge to chose a lucrative direction for the Limousin breed.
Virginia Show is firmly established as one of Ireland’s most impressive celebrations of farming, food and rural life, with the show attracting almost 15,000 visitors last year.
Top quality livestock will be showcased in Virginia, with almost 500 classes up for decision.
The show which is located on the shore of Lough Ramor represents rural living at its most vibrant and it includes over 300 trade stands.
These include live entertainment, artisan food producers, cookery demonstration by award winning chef Neven Maguire, fashion shows, sheep shearing demonstrations and children’s entertainment.
“Businesses from the local area are keen to have a stall and show their wares at the show and promote themselves,” said Carolan.
With over 200 people on the committee, the level of organising for an event of this size requires a lot of diligence and hard work according to Carolan.
We have a loyal band of volunteers who all have their own jobs and aren’t afraid to put their shoulder to the wheel, they are generally from a farming background and take great pride in the event.