The Comice is not just about a procession of decorated floats and bands, it is also the shop window for the rural world, a chance for farmers and local businesses to show what they do and how they do it over a summer weekend. This year there were few animals and no competition for best cow or similar as there are too many animal bugs and viruses out there this year to make bringing different herds together a good idea. There were a few ponies dotted around, but that was it. Even with a field this big, you have to be really careful where livestock is concerned.
However there is always space for tools, both for the small scale amateur or professional, such as John (although he does not need nor can he afford any of this lot).
Other marques are available! There are also lots of toys to interest the serious farmers at the show, and these machines are huge and gleaming (apart from where dust has settled) and expensive, and therefore generally leased or owned by farming co-operatives.
The Saturday morning is devoted to serious ploughing matches, while the afternoon sees the Intervillage Games - a sort of It's a Knockout event for teams from each village. I know there were four games that had to be done, and that one had to do with moving things on a barrow and another with using a Solex possibly attached to a small generator or lightbulb, but other than that, I was at a loss to know what was going on. People had fun.
The Sunday evening can be the crowning glory of the whole event, with a feast laid on for over 1,000 paying diners, with entertainment included. This year it was stilt walkers passing among us, defying gravity.
There are also bands, drinking, fast food and to round things off, some final display. This year, and serendipitously given the drought, the final display wasn't fireworks but a water and laser show that we did not stay to watch, but I did take a final photo of the field before we left.
So there we have it, the full story of the 2025 Comice.
On a more personal note, Blogger seems to work for my Rural Life musings, so I will stick with it. If you bookmark these things, please bookmark this and delete the old Typepad one, as Typepad will die on the 30th September. I will try to archive the old blog, but can't transfer the old musings to here, so there will be no history. Actually that makes things a bit easier for me as I can repeat myself and no-one can prove it! However if you liked certain animal videos, sign up to my YouTube channel - Rural Life Plantagenet - YouTube in order to be able to browse those.
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