If you are after a proper summer day out, the New Forest and Hampshire County Show is hard to beat. It runs over three days next week, from Tuesday 28 to Thursday 30 July, at the Showground at New Park in Brockenhurst, right in the middle of the New Forest National Park. It is one of the biggest agricultural events in the country, and it pulls in somewhere between 85,000 and 95,000 people across the three days, so it is well worth planning ahead rather than turning up on spec.
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At its heart, it is still very much a farming show. The 30-acre site fills with livestock competitions covering cattle, sheep, poultry, rabbits, caged birds and honey bees, alongside international show jumping and equine events. But it has grown far beyond that: there are more than 70 free family activities, craft vendors, antiques, art, show gardens and floral and vegetable displays, plus over 600 commercial stands to browse. The Heavy Horse Musical Drive is another of the long-standing favourites, and there are local food and drink stalls and educational exhibits scattered around.
The headline act this year is Horsepower Fury, put on by the Steelehorse team. It is a stunt show that pairs world-class equestrian champions with motorbike acrobats, and the riders have worked on films like The Avengers, Mission Impossible and Captain America. It runs twice a day in the Main Ring across all three days, so you can catch it regardless of which day you visit. The show is run by the New Forest Agricultural Show Society, a registered charity that has grown the event from a small one-day affair at Netley Marsh back in 1920 into the three-day programme it is now, and it still leans on around 500 volunteers to keep it going.
On tickets, the same price covers all the main ring attractions and on-site parking, so you are not nickeled and dimed once you are through the gate. Tickets are sold online through the official website, and members get VIP access across all three days. If you are bringing the family, there is a 10% discount on family tickets with the code SCHOOLSOUT, which runs until midnight on Friday 24 July, so that is worth sorting before the weekend if you want to save a bit. For any queries, the show office is on 01590 622400 or info@newforestshow.co.uk.
One quieter note worth knowing about is the Samantha and Florence Bailey Bursary, set up in 2018 in memory of Samantha Bailey and her unborn daughter Florence. It supports young people in Hampshire who want to make a career in agriculture, paying for agricultural college students and those taking short courses. It is a small part of what the show does, but it is the kind of thing that gives the whole event its real connection to the local farming community. Whether you go for the livestock, the stunt show or just a wander round the stalls, it is a classic New Forest summer fixture.
Published Date
23 July 2026
