THE Royal Welsh Agricultural Society have declared their first virtual Winter Fair a roaring success.

The society’s move to hold virtual shows due to the Covid-19 pandemic is in line with many other agricultural societies and shows across the country, who have also gone digital.

Royal Welsh chief executive Steve Hughson said: “The virtual Winter Fair has built on the success of the summer event with over one million hits on the website and over 300k views.

“Our trade stand platform has been a huge success, which we hope has boosted the economy and supported our valued traders and exhibitors.

“The level of support and interaction from our members, supporters, sponsors and contribution has been brilliant, with the event giving many small and large businesses the opportunity to promote their products to our audience with many attendees being able for the first time to visit stalls and shows they may usually not be able to.

“We are planning next year’s events with renewed positivity given the recent news of a vaccination and look forward to a return to some sort of normality. In the meantime we will continue to work hard to protect the society’s long-term future.

“We hope that you have enjoyed this virtual Winter Fair as much as we have and look forward to welcoming you all back to Llanelwedd to bigger and better shows than ever before.”

The online Christmas market included a directory of all last year’s trade stands for members and the general public to shop online from their favourite stalls and discover the unique gifts usually on offer at the Winter Fair.

By offering a Christmas market online organisers hoped it would encourage the Royal Welsh community to shop local and support local business’ through buying produce that has been made and created in Wales and across the UK.

Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths said: “It was very disappointing the Winter Fair was unable to go ahead as usual this year.

“However, the virtual Winter Fair gave businesses the opportunity to promote and sell their goods in the online Christmas market in this unprecedented time. I was delighted to be able to sponsor the event to show our commitment to supporting rural Wales.”

Euryn Jones, deputy head of agriculture at sponsors HSBC UK, added: “Having supported the Winter Fair from the very first event in 1990, HSBC UK is very happy to have helped the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society stage this year’s virtual Winter Fair.

“It was important to have a successful event to bring a turbulent year to a close. We have been delighted with the number of people who interacted with the online event to learn about and debate a number of important issues facing the industry and to trade in the online marketplace.

“I congratulate the organisers on achieving such a successful virtual event and look forward to meeting up with everyone once again in Llanelwedd next year.”