Poppleton Village Show: a free bank holiday day out

If you are looking for a low-key plan for the August bank holiday weekend, the Poppleton Village Show is back on Saturday 15 August, running from 12:30 to 17:00 at Upper Poppleton Green. It is a traditional, family-friendly day out just outside York, and the best part is that there is no entry fee at all, so it is as easy to drop into as it is to stay for the afternoon.

The show is built around the kind of gentle, community competition that makes village shows what they are. There are entry classes for flowers, fruit, vegetables, floral art, handicrafts and baking, with separate categories for first-timers and children under thirteen, so there is something for everyone to enter. Alongside that, you get a fun dog show, a classic car display, a range of stalls and animal petting for the younger ones, plus the slightly eccentric spud and beetroot in a bucket weighing. The Shepherd Brass Band provides the soundtrack, playing from 12:30 through to 16:00.

There is a bit of history behind it too. The show traces back to 1839, rooted in the Ancient Free Garden Society formed that same year, and it has kept going for nearly two centuries. The buildings involved tell their own story: judging takes place from 10:30 to 12:30 in the All Saints Hall and the new Methodist Hall, with the exhibition halls opening to the public from 12:30 to 16:30. The new hall itself is worth a look, an eco-friendly community building that cost just over £500,000 to put up, complete with underfloor heating from an air source heat pump, solar panels on the roof, double-glazed windows and timber-framed construction. Coffee on the Green opens in the Old Methodist Hall from 10:00, so you can grab something warm before the main event kicks off.

If you want to make the most of the day, it helps to know how the afternoon is laid out. The Shepherd Brass Band plays from 12:30 to 16:00, the dog show runs from 13:00 to 16:00, the classic car show stays open from 12:30 right through to 17:00, and the spud and beetroot weighing happens at 13:00. The whole thing wraps up in the New Methodist Hall at 16:00 with the raffle draw and the awarding of show prizes. Speaking of the raffle, tickets are sold on the day, and the top prize is a pair of adult flights with Jet2 to any destination, so it is worth a flutter.

For a day out that costs nothing to get into and gives you a proper sense of North Yorkshire village life, it is hard to beat. Whether you come for the dogs, the cars, the brass band or just to see what the biggest beetroot in the bucket looks like, it is a relaxed way to spend a bank holiday Saturday. If you have any questions before you go, the organisers can be reached at dandl_johnson@hotmail.co.uk or through the show's website.