Farming special - Day 1: Ploughing receives top 10 boost from ‘National Geographic’
It has listed the event as one of the top 10 festivals and events to visit in Ireland, north and south, this autumn.
Costing €4m to stage, on an 800 acre site, the rural feast is expected to attract more than 200,000 visitors, including 200 school tours.
It has joined the All-Ireland football and hurling finals, walking festivals, and fleadhanna cheoil as ‘must-visit’ events.
National Geographic writer Kathleen M Mangan described the ploughing championships, worth nearly €40m to the economy, as one of the biggest outdoor farming events in Europe.
“Established in 1931, it features international ploughing —or plowing as it’s known in the US —competitions, livestock shows, sheepdog trials, the All-Ireland Lamb Shearing contest, and the National Brown Bread Baking Competition,” she wrote.
“There’s vintage machinery, the latest farm equipment, and technological innovations too.”
National Ploughing Association assistant managing director Anna Marie McHugh said the site, which has 23km of trackway, is looking great and everything is in order for the 83th championships.
This year’s event, hosted by the Carter family, is set to become another huge success with 1,400 trade stands alone.
It is being held in Laois for the sixth time and will involve over 350 competitors in 21 ploughing classes.
Some 30 competitors from 10 countries will also take part in the European vintage ploughing championships. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and several Cabinet ministers will attend as well as diplomats from a number of countries.
Trade and other delegations from as far away as China and South Africa are also due in Ratheniska, which has been the venue for the event on two previous occasions.
A major traffic plan has been drawn up by the gardaí around six main access routes and colour-coded car parks, to ensure the 80,000 vehicles expected to travel to and from the site over the three days can do so with minimum delay.
Nearly 200 gardaí, including the aerial and mounted units, will operate the plan from dawn tomorrow, backed by 500 stewards from the National Ploughing Association.
Gardaí have urged motorists to give themselves plenty of time for their journey, follow the direction signs, not to take short cuts, and drive safely at all times.
