Great Yorkshire Show throws open its celebration of cheese

A celebration of Yorkshire’s love of cheese is being extended to food businesses across the county and beyond during the countdown to this year’s Great Yorkshire Show.

Entries for the Cheese and Dairy Show at the 2026 Great Yorkshire Show are now open, featuring three digital classes for the very first time in the Show’s history, specifically to find the Champion Cheese Board, Grazing Platter and Cheese Celebration Cake.

By taking these classes digital, the Show’s organisers are setting out to encourage a wider network of farm shops, delicatessens, cheesemongers, grazing platter businesses, restaurants and hotels across Yorkshire and beyond to celebrate their creativity and expertise.

The Great Yorkshire Show takes place at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate on Tuesday 14 – Friday 17 July. Tickets are on sale now at the same prices as last year.

Caroline Bell, chief steward of the Great Yorkshire Show’s Cheese and Dairy Show said: “It’s so exciting to be taking these classes out into the community in a way that makes it easy for businesses to be part of the Great Yorkshire Show and showcase their talent.

“The digital classes will create a visually engaging competition that celebrates how cheese is presented and enjoyed across Yorkshire and beyond within the hospitality and food retail sector. It is another great way to shine the spotlight on a food that is produced with amazing craft and skill and is enjoyed by cheese-lovers across the country.”

The Cheese and Dairy Show at the Great Yorkshire Show is a prestigious celebration of cheese and dairy from across the UK. It includes more than 160 competitive classes, cheese making demonstrations and chat shows with cheese producers at the Cheese and Dairy stage hosted by Homage2Fromage. Visitors can become cheese judges, and an annual Cheese Auction on Thursday 16 July is expected to raise thousands of pounds for charities.
To take part in the new digital classes, food and hospitality businesses are invited to submit digital photographs of their entries to the judging panel. The winners will then be invited to display their champion cheese board, platter and celebration cake at the Great Yorkshire Show, where they will be showcased to the Show’s 140,000 visitors.

Entry forms for the Cheese and Dairy Show are available on the Great Yorkshire Show website at www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk and entries close on Thursday 21 May.

The 167th Great Yorkshire Show will bring together the very best of British agriculture, featuring 8,500 animals, cutting-edge machinery and technology, the very best of food and drink, and first-class entertainment for a four-day celebration of farming, food and the countryside.

Tickets are available to purchase in advance only and are on sale now, frozen at last year’s prices: Adults £36.50, Children £13 and Families £89. To book tickets, please visit www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk/ticket-information

Farmer tickets offer those who work on-farm extra flexibility to attend the Great Yorkshire Show. These tickets can be used to access any day of the Show and are strictly for purchase by the farming community only. An approved form of ID is required when purchasing and to show upon entry. Farmer ticket prices have also been held at the same rate as last year: Adults £27.50, Children £10 and Families £65. Farmer tickets can be purchased online from www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk/farmers or in person, subject to availability, at select farming outlets (see the website for details).

The Great Yorkshire Show has sold out before the event every year since tickets went to advance sales only in 2021.

Free shuttle buses are operated by The Harrogate Bus Company every day of the Great Yorkshire Show. The buses run every 10 minutes from Harrogate Bus Station (next to the Railway Station) to the Showground’s White Gate, starting at 7.30am. The last bus departs the Showground at 7pm.