The Turriff Show, which runs on August 5-6, is the biggest two-day agricultural show in Scotland.
It attracts around 30,000 people, including those involved in farming as well as many non-farming people who enjoy the show for its wide array of activities and stands.
The show has been held in the north-east town since 1864 and was originally held on a Tuesday to coincide with the Turriff mart day.
This year’s president is John Sleigh, whose family has been farming at St Johns Wells, near Fyvie, since 1901.
He said: “Traditionally ‘mart days’ in local villages throughout the region generated a hive of activity where farmers, dealers, agricultural workers and families came together to socialise – and from here our agricultural shows, as we know them today, were established.”
Today, the show awards a staggering £88,000 in prize money and 320 trophies are awarded each year.
The show’s 1,554 classes range from showcasing the best cattle, sheep and horses in the area, through to sections for working dogs, poultry and vintage vehicles.
“There is so much hard work and dedication that goes into organising an event like this and for Turriff, it has been down to the continued support of the local community that has seen it become the success that it has,” said Mr Sleith.
“With more than 1,100 sheep, 350 cattle and 1,000 horse and pony entries, the show hosts some of the best livestock exhibits in the UK.”
This year, Turriff’s cattle entries include more than 80 animals hoping to fare well in this year’s Scottish National Simmental Show.
British Simmental Cattle Society chief executive, Neil Shand, said: “Turriff Show is ‘The Show’ in the north of Scotland, the one that everyone wants to be seen doing well at and given the stronghold of Simmentals in the area, it will be great to see the many commercial farmers who come to the event speaking to the breeders and seeing the cattle first-hand.”
Mr Sleigh said another draw for farmers will be the carcase cattle and butchers’ lamb classes.
The prestigious role of judging the champion of champions in the main ring on the Monday of the show will be left in the hands of Ronald Black from Fife.
He will be tasked with choosing his favourite from a line-up of champions from the beef cattle, dairy, sheep, Clydesdale, ridden pony and in-hand pony sections.
Mr Sleigh said away from the livestock and horse displays, members of the public were drawn to the visiting the show for a number of reasons.
He said: “The food and drink hall, the shopping and the grand ring displays are a big attraction, as is the opportunity for families not involved in farming to get up close to livestock, poultry and even farm machinery. We see the show’s role as being very important in communicating the food and farming story.”
He said the popular sulky harness horse racing will run again this year in the main ring.
And to celebrate the 2018 Year of Young People, Turriff Show’s organising committee is supporting seven young business owners, aged 16-25, by giving them free exhibition stands in a dedicated marquee.
This is sponsored by Ledingham Chalmers, with support from Elevator, the Aberdeen-based business accelerator programme.
Mr Sleigh said: “We want to support enterprising young people. As a regional show at the heart of the local community, giving these youngsters a helping hand to publicise what they do is our way of encouraging them.”
The businesses exhibiting are: Alice Lane who runs Bakery Lane in Inverurie; Kirsty Bruce, an artist from Turriff; Cameron Esson who runs Boozy Events; AJ IT Services, Lois Wiseman, a jeweller; Rebecca Carr a hair salon owner from Kintore and two singers, Shannon Feely and Lois Paterson.
Lois Wiseman, 22, comes from a family of fishermen in Banff. She trained in Birmingham and now has a studio at Vanilla Inc in Glasgow.
The inspiration for her ceramic-based work comes from Aberdeenshire, she describes it as “coastal inspiration and a colour celebration of her home and heritage.”
She said: “I’ve gone to the Turriff Show every year since I was young and I’m so happy to have been given the free stand in the Year of Young People marquee.
“It’s lovely to be taking my collections of jewellery back to the area that gave me my inspiration.”
More details about the event highlights can be found on the Turriff Show website www.turriffshow.org