Scottish Smallholder Festival
Come along to the Scottish Smallholder Festival - our first Festival at the home of Agriculture in Scotland – The Royal Highland Centre on 14th October!
About Scottish Smallholder Festival
The Scottish Smallholder Festival is Scotland’s national smallholding show.
Our goal is to ‘Inform. Educate. Inspire.’
We have a varied programme of competitions, parades, talks and demonstrations lined up for visitors to the Scottish Smallholder Festival.
The full details are now live on our website - HERE
Highlights include:
- Scottish Pig Show: the pig show is currently the only one in Scotland at present and is an opportunity for pedigree pig keepers to promote their breed and their stock to the event’s visitors.
- 50th Anniversary of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust: celebrating all kinds of rare breeds, with prizes offered for the best Rare Breeds on show, including a supreme show champion
- SRUC Theatre: a brand-new area as a result of a partnership with Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), hosting part of the seminar programme and providing professional and hands-on education for smallholders attending the event
- Calving simulator: attendees can pre-book sessions to learn about and practice calving cows on a lifelike Calving Simulator, the only place in Scotland that this experience is currently available to smallholders
The day promises to entertain children and young people of all ages, and you don’t have to be a smallholder to come along and take part. Other highlights include:
- Over 30 different breeds of sheep, 9 breeds of goat, 11 breeds of pig
- An equine parade featuring displays of Clydesdale horses and Highland ponies, as well as Fell, Eriskay, Dales, Exmoor, Shetland and New Forest Ponies and Cleveland Bay horses
- Showcase of cattle and alpacas
- Rural skills displays - learn about drystone walling, sourdough bread making, basket weaving, pressing apples
- Indulge in some shopping with a variety of craft stalls
- See farm equipment up close and talk to the experts who can help you with growing your own, or even beginning your own smallholding
- Visit the cookery theatre to learn how to turn your home produce into fantastic food
We provide a showcase for smallholders and small-scale producers to demonstrate that big is not always the best, and for end users to see what can be achieved in a small-scale farming environment.
We aim to create an opportunity for those who are interested in rural life and farming to get a close-up view of small-scale farming, introducing them to skills and livestock they would not normally encounter.
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