What to Expect at the Royal Highland Show
Last updated on: 15 May 2023
The Royal Highland Show is an annual event held by the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. As of 2023, it is now on its 183rd year and for four days every June (22-25 June in 2023), there is a showcase of Scotland’s best livestock, machinery, and produce. There are also many competitions, displays, and exhibitions to enjoy.
We first visited in 2019 and we were really excited to see what the day would bring us. If you’ve never been before and are considering visiting in the future, read on for what you can expect at the show!
1. An Extortionate Entry Fee
If you’re looking up the entry fee for the first time, you might just be blown off your feet, like we were! The cost to enter for one day in 2023 is £35 per adult if visiting on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, or £30 per adult if visiting on Sunday. There is also the Farming Flexi ticket for £38.50 per adult, which entitles you to entry on either Thursday or Friday. Tickets are valid for only one show date. Children 15 and under do go free with a paying adult, but upon first glance at the fee, we were gobsmacked.
Upon reflection now that we’ve been to the show, the high entry fee can be justified. It is a massive event and you can easily spend an entire day there, as we did, and just barely see everything.
As you can expect, at a special event that offers a wide variety of food, prices can be a bit inflated. Save some money while there by packing your own lunch. The only thing you’re not allowed to bring in is alcohol.
2. Tons of Traffic if Driving
If you plan to drive to the Royal Highland Show, go early! Extremely early. As soon as it opens (at 07.00). Do note that parking for one day costs £15, and there is also the option to buy different two-day parking tickets for £20 each, or a four-day parking ticket for £25.
When we visited in 2019, we had initially planned to go to the show on Saturday, but didn’t get out of bed early enough. Traffic was so backed up by mid-morning that we decided to go instead on Sunday to not lose out on that expensive entry fee! (Note: You used to be able to visit on any day if you’d purchased a ticket, but now, you have to select which day you’d like to visit and tickets are not transferable to another day.) The show opened at 07.00 everyday, so we got there for 08.00 on Sunday and it was then a breeze to get there.
The show takes place at the Royal Highland Centre (Ingliston, Newbridge EH28 8NB), which is pretty much right next to Edinburgh Airport. Therefore, when the show is on, there’s also congestion from everyone trying to get to and from the airport.
If you don’t have a car or would rather not drive, there is also a special bus service that Lothian Buses operates while the Royal Highland Show takes place. The #98 bus service runs from George Street to the Royal Highland Centre and the cost is £8 per adult for a return ticket.
If you’ll be taking the train to Edinburgh, there is also the #97 bus service that runs from Edinburgh Park Station with a stop at Edinburgh Gateway Station before stopping at the Royal Highland Centre. The cost is £5 per adult for a return ticket. Additional fares and information can be found on the Lothian Buses website.
3. A Wide Array of Animals, Exhibitions, and More to See
As the Royal Highland Show is a show about farming and agriculture, you can expect a wide variety of animals. There are horse jumping competitions as well as sheep shearing competitions, among others. In 2023, the Golden Shears Sheep Shearing & Woolhandling World Championships return after 20 years, with over 30 countries participating to be the best sheep shearers.
There are also sections where you can visit different kinds of cows, sheep, and horses. Smaller animals like various birds are present as well.
The Grand Parade takes place each day, which is a display of the best livestock. The horses come out first, then the cows. It was a bit odd to see cows being led around - we suspect they weren’t too happy - but the Highland calves were sure cute!
Another section is dedicated to everything wood-related. There are pole climbing competitions and you can also see incredible artists do chainsaw carving.
A big building is dedicated to Scotland’s Larder, which is an array of stalls featuring everything from alcohol to fudge and ice cream to cheese and everything in between. Many stalls offer free samples and when we popped our heads in for a second time towards the end of the day, back in 2019, we found that a pastry stall was selling all of their pastries for only £1 each (normally £10 for three items)!
There is also a huge section of the show that features brand new machinery of all shapes and sizes.
This barely scratches the surface of everything that was present at the show. Now you can maybe start to see why the entry fee is so high! Overall, we felt that the Royal Highland Show was very well-managed, with plenty of toilets, rubbish and recycling bins, and water refill stations provided by Scottish Water.
What looks like the most interesting part of the Royal Highland Show to you? If you’ve been before, what was your favourite part? Let us know in the comments!
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