The Royal Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) is ready for ‘Flock to the Show’, a public art trail which will travel round Scotland this April and May.
The campaign celebrates the return of the Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing & Woolhandling Championships to the Royal Highland Show, which takes place between 22-25 June 2023.
The art trail will features over 35 specially designed sheep sculptures, decorated by artists from all over the UK. Designed to engage visitors of all ages, the trail will also raise awareness of different causes related to farming, including regenerative agriculture, rural isolation and climate change.
Artists who designed a sheep include Charlotte Brayley from Comrie, Perthshire, whose art project on her pet sheep, Alan, helped pay for her wedding, and Megan Reilly from Hamliton, South Lanarkshire, who designed the Shepherds Delight sheep and has painted over 1000 murals during her career.
As part of the campaign, there will be four opportunities, one in each area, to win a VIP Royal Highland Show experience for all the family – available for children and adults of all ages to enter. Budding artists can download a sheep outline from the Royal Highland Show website and create their own design to be in with a chance of winning. Information on how to enter can be found in the Flock to the Show section of the Royal Highland Show website.
Following the tour, the flock will return to the Royal Highland Show during the Golden Shears in June which will be the only time the sheep sculptures will gather together in one location.
The flock will then be auctioned at a gala dinner in September to raise funds to support The Royal Highland & Agricultural Society of Scotland Bicentennial Fund, which supports projects dedicated to sustainability in the rural sector.
The flock will visit Lothians and the Scottish Borders from 16 and 30 May.
Locations will include: St James Quarter, Edinburgh Waverley, Drift in North Berwick, Melrose Rugby Club and Craigies Farm.
Full details of the Flock to the Show tour can be found on the Royal Highland Show website:royalhighlandshow.org/flock-to-the-show
The Royal Highland Show takes place 22 – 25 June 2023, tickets are on sale now at: royalhighlandshow.org
Jim Warnock, Chairman of Royal Highland Show organisers, the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), said: “We are very much looking forward to seeing our flock out and about across Scotland. Not only does Flock to the Show celebrate the return of the Golden Shears to the Royal Highland Show, but it will also shine a spotlight on some important causes in the agricultural and rural sectors.
“We hope that everyone will get involved and pay a visit to our flock when they arrive in your region – with such a brilliant and diverse range of designs from talented artists, visitors won’t be disappointed!”
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