Close to three hundred thousand people would have been expected at the National Ploughing Championships in Carlow if they’d started today as planned.
The highlight of the Irish farming community’s social calendar is cancelled this year due to Covid-19, for the first time since the Foot-and-Mouth crisis in 2001.
Organisers had hoped to stage some qualifying events for international ploughing competition this week, but they’ve now been put back to October.
Anna-Marie McHugh from the National Ploughing Association says they’ll be doing as much as they can on social media this week with videos and contests noting “Also a reminder of people telling their stories from ploughing, we’re in association with all the different parties that are involved from year to year and we want people just to, kindof, get active this week on social media and remember the ploughing and it’s always the week of the year that there’s a concentration on rural Ireland and agriculture, and we want to hold our spot I suppose as far as that goes”.
She adds that one of the online events this week will be a fashion contest saying “And we’re being very fussy because you have to dress appropriately for the day that’s in it and what you would have been wearing to the ploughing, so we’re having really good weather this week so we want people to, you know, to have that kindof country style but obviously not a massive, big heavy jacket if it’s going to be really warm so just kindof watch what the weather is and then you have to have a little sign saying #Ploughing2020, upload your picture & send it to us and judges will see who’s the best dressed or most appropriate dressed for the day”.
