I’m really excited to write this post! I’ve lived in Suffolk nearly all of my life (minus 4 years in the city of London) and can you believe it, I’ve never been to the Suffolk Show! Its such an annual highlight in this region, and so many friends who have been have come back buzzing from such a lovely day out. My lovely friend, and work colleague, Emma suggested we go as we both (on the rarity!) had the same day off work. Therefore, it’s now my turn to experience this event that is so quintessentially Suffolk!
We started the day extremely early, up at 7am and outta the house by 8am! We had to leave the event earlier so we wanted to make sure we could cram in every stall, event and everything in between that the day had to offer. We came through the gates and our eyes were greeted by so many sights! We saw large inflatable slides (obviously, as a big kid, my eyes were drawn straight to it), banners for the Garden Show, buses in the middle of the field and huge tents full of various stalls waiting for my cash and card to greedily approach.
We started by wandering around some of the stalls. The first stall we came across had so many lovely stationary, purses and jewellery bits to offer. I wanted them all! We kept it tight for the first few hours and eventually came back and did the damage to the purse strings then.
We found a whole array of goodies, from back massage chairs and hot tubs, to Adnams ales and fresh fruit smoothies. The Suffolk Show really has it all!
Both super flattering pictures, I know. Can’t beat a scotch egg and pineapple smoothie though!
I always spend my money on food and drink treats, but who could resist when you have the cutest stalls of Macaroons and Emma then proceeds to tell me she’s never eaten one before? Of course they were being purchased (Rose Creme, Passion Fruit, Salted Caramel and Lemon Meringue in case you were wondering)! I was in food and drink heaven! All washed down with half a pint of Aspalls Cider. I was feeling very Suffolk.
Emma had a couple of friends showing in the horse shows, so we went and had a look at what they were up to and stumbled across so many amazing animals as well as horses. They had a whole Suffolk Wildlife Trust area. You were given wildlife bingo cards and got to explore the area and learn more about the wildlife we have here in the region. Kids were pond dipping – anyone else remember learning about Pond Skaters when they were a child?
If anyone knows me well enough, they’ll know I hate insects, but after a year or so of digging around the garden I’ve started to grow more accustomed to it all. I even held this stag beetle and stroked it’s back! What an achievement!
Other parts of the Suffolk Wildlife Trust were a lot easier to get on board with…
The Suffolk Show was also the best day out if you love dogs! There were SO many dogs loving life that day and we were both in heaven. This little Retriever puppy stole our hearts.
They had a show with Retrievers and Collies, and various other breeds, showing off their tricks and talents by fetching on command and jumping fences to collect dummies etc. It was brilliant!
A highlight of the animals at the show were definitely the baby chicks and ducklings! I’ve seen them before, but it was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to hold them. It was so amazing! They were tiny and so adorable and soft (I promise it’s not a death grip in that second photo).
But as this is a gardening blog and my main reason was to showcase all the amazing garden bits ‘n pieces, I’ll get on with it!
Outside the garden show entrance were these raised beds full of colour and innovative, creative layers. Different groups had obviously had a go at creating their own mini gardens and they all were so fun and clever. Some had plastic sculptures, some had water features and some had a pine-cone washing line! I’d love to get more creative and different in my own garden using ideas like this.
Especially with little features like these two above. If you have been with this blog a while you might have seen my Busy Lizzie and Cosmos teapots (this year it’s Marigolds) but I love the addition of the camping mugs for Succulents too. Being presented like a little afternoon tea just adds to it. The log storage tree globe is stunning too. It caught both mine and Emma’s eye – didn’t catch the price though, and I’m not sure we would have wanted to see it either!
There was stall upon stall of colour and chaos and I was in heaven (constantly taking photos with my phone to remember all the fab combos of plants and steal some ideas ha)! So many nurseries from far and wide set up temporary home in this humongous tent for the two days with so many different plants for sale and showing off envy-worthy displays. It ranged from wedding and occasion displays, to Orchid specific displays, to Cactus only displays. I overheard people asking for advice or opinions on what to buy and how to keep the plants going, it was great. I took a few leaflets and cards, so am planning on visiting some of the nearby nurseries to see what else they have as their stalls were great.
So I tried Lava biscuits from Iceland, held the world’s cutest ducklings, ate all the food in the world, stroked 1000 dogs, encouraged Emma to spend too much money on clothes and jewellery, saw every type of plant imaginable and came away from the Suffolk Show buzzing. I was very tempted to buy a ticket for the second day as there was still more I wanted to see and experience! For only £22, what a bargain. I definitely feel more Suffolk-esque and had a great day.
10/10.
Have you been to the Suffolk Show before, or a different county show? I’d love to hear what you saw and got up to! Drop me a comment below 🙂
xo
The Young Gardener 
