The Great Exhibition 2026: a look back at the day

The Great Exhibition 2026 has come and gone, so if you were planning to head down to the Lincolnshire Showground this week, it's worth knowing it's already wrapped up. The showcase ran on Wednesday 21 October, from 10:00 to 16:00 at the Epic Centre, and it was billed as Greater Lincolnshire's flagship cultural and economic event of the year, free to get into and bringing together businesses, investors, international delegates and political figures.

Organised by the Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, the day was built around three themes: 'We Feed', on the future of food production, agritech and efficient farming; 'We Power', on energy security and the infrastructure that keeps the country running; and 'We Protect', on innovation in defence, security and advanced manufacturing. More than 1,000 business leaders, investors, policymakers and international representatives were expected through the doors, with the whole thing pitched as a selective showcase rather than a general trade show — every expression of interest was reviewed, and exhibitors had to put on a live, interactive demonstration rather than just stand behind a table.

On the floor, the more futuristic side of the region came out. A robot host called Luka, an AgiBot A3 supplied by Smart City Consultancy, greeted visitors in several languages, while driverless Ohmio Shuttle buses ferried people around the site. The exhibitor list ran from Associated British Ports, Humber Energy Board, Step Fusion, Cadent, Eagle Eye, Foldhill, Fruitcast, Gelder and Lindum, with delegations in from Taiwan, the US, Bangladesh, Canada and Lithuania. It was a busy mix of local names and international visitors, all gathered in the Epic Centre, an award-winning indoor space owned by the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society, a registered charity, and described as one of the greenest conference centres in the UK, with three exhibition halls, six upstairs meeting rooms and space for up to 1,200 banqueting style.

It wasn't without its critics, though. The Lincoln and District Trades Council had been calling on the Mayor to publish the full cost of the event, pointing out that last year's exhibition ran to £69,237.74, and questioning why a publicly organised economic showcase had such a political line-up of speakers, which included former Prime Minister Liz Truss, Reform UK figures Zia Yusuf and Newark MP Robert Jenrick, and former Texas State Representative Jason Isaac. The council asked whether publicly funded resources should be used for a platform with such a concentrated political character without equivalent representation across the spectrum.

Dame Andrea Jenkyns pushed back, saying a senior Labour Minister and senior Conservatives had been invited but didn't take up the offer, and that she was pleased a representative from Number 10 North was speaking this year. 'This event is not about politics,' she said. 'It is about showcasing our fabulous region... I don't care what party they come from.' For context on the money, last year's event had pulled in £23,750 in private-sector cash sponsorship and roughly £5,000 in in-kind sponsorship. The whole thing took its name and idea from the famous Great Exhibition of 1851, and whether it lived up to the billing is something the organisers will be weighing up now the doors have closed.