CLA Game Fair at Blenheim Palace
Words: Charlie Gardiner-Hill
This weekend’s CLA game fair is set to be one of the finest 48 hours of family fun and the greatest celebration of country living staged this year, featuring everything from a Zorse (zebra-horse mongrel) to the final of the British Timbersports Championships. The first Game Fair was held in 1958 and attracted just 8,500 visitors, but this year the organisers are budgeting for 145,000 people.
The Gentleman’s Journal is hosting a polo match and exclusive reception on Saturday evening (warm blankets complementary) and earlier in the day, if you prefer spatulas to mallets, there’s a Game Chef of the Year competition judged by TV cooks Valentine Warner and Mike Robinson. If it all gets too much, for £171 plus VAT per person, you can spend the day ‘glamping’ in your very own luxury tent and get entry to the show, breakfast, lunch, tea with an invitation to a Pimm’s reception in the evening.
Alan Titchmarsh of gardening fame, England Rugby star Phil Vickery and JB Gill from boy band JLS are leading a walk through the woods, open to all those that make a cash donation to the Prince’s Countryside Fund, reflecting the Fair’s purpose to maintain the countryside and provide rural communities with more support.
If charity doesn’t take your fancy then you can visit the fishing village and get a lesson for under £10 or have a shooting lesson for £20. Those looking for an adrenalin rush can go off-roading with an instructor for free or have a go on the bumper boats (think circus bumper cars but on water) for £5.
The CLA Game Fair is at Blenheim Palace, Oxon, July 18-20. Adult admission costs £21-£26 in advance, £24-£30 on the door. Under-16s free; 0845 612 2052
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