WITH nearly quarter of a million people set to descend on Builth Wells, local businesses and residents are ready to embrace the chaos and carnival atmosphere.

The Royal Welsh Show – the pinnacle event in the British agricultural calendar and jewel in the crown of Powys events – begins Monday, July 24.

The event only lasts for four days, but more than 200,000 people visit the show each year, providing a huge boost to the town and economy of Builth.

Builth and the Royal Welsh Showground, based just across the bridge in Llanelwedd, has been a hive of activity for the last month.

There’s been a steady hum of exhibitors, competitors, workers and visitors arriving since the start of July, but for the many pubs, cafes, restaurants and other businesses who are permanent residents of Builth, preparations for the Royal Welsh began months ago.

“We opened the site on Wednesday but we’ve been prepping for a month,” said Gwyn Davies, of Penmaenau Farm Camping, a farm and campsite that borders the showground itself.

Gwyn, along with his army of staff, has been busy erecting marquees, marking out camping and caravan pitches, organising toilets and shower facilities for guests, as well as running water and fire points, not to mention dealing with the health and safety aspects such a massive event demands.

“Turning a farm into a campsite is a lot of work,” he adds.

For Gwyn, show week is all about the numbers. He will employ a total of 145 staff during the week itself, while 10 staff have been present on site every day in the lead-up to the event.

The farm boasts 1,100 tent and caravan pitches, meaning he expects to host 6-7,000 people on site at peak times – that’s about the combined population of Builth and Llandrindod Wells – while bars are located at 6 separate locations on site.

“The site runs almost 24/7,” he said. “We’ll lose 80 per cent of staff by the Thursday morning, then another 10 per cent at 6pm that evening.”

There are big numbers too in prize money up for grabs at an event the farm is hosting on the opening day of the show.

Penmaenau will host a speed shearing event on Monday at 7pm, where the winner of the open competition will win £1,000.

There is £3,000 on offer in total through other adult and junior competitions, while Gwyn has been inspired to put on the event by the DPJ Foundation – with a portion of proceeds from the event to be donated to the mental health charity.

Set up by the wife of Pembrokeshire farmer Daniel Picton-Jones in 2016 after he took his own life, the charity supports those working in the agricultural industry and from rural communities.

“I was asked a few years ago to put on this sort of event but then Covid happened,” said Gwyn.

“There’s far more work going to put it on than we realised. We’ve got a few celebrities coming to commentate from the shearing world and we’ve had a ton of sponsors offering money.

“Our intention is to give as much as we can to the charity. People can attend for free until 10pm and we’ll have people going round with buckets, so hopefully it will be a win-win.

“We’ve got some staff who have had the benefit of help from the DPJ Foundation, so I know how much good work they do.

“Hopefully it will be a good night of entertainment while we get to give something back too. We’re hoping it will become an annual event during show week.”

There will be plenty of entertainment on offer throughout show week at Penmaenau – including a foam party on the Wednesday night.

DJ Will Roderick, from Pembrokeshire and who will be familiar to many on the YFC circuit, is Penmaenau’s house DJ for the week. Other acts appearing are N-Trance (DJ set), band Bwncath, Aeron Pughe, Sage Todz, The Phonics, The Texels, Soul'd Out and Northern Ruins.

The 2023 Royal Welsh Show takes place from Monday-Thursday, July 24-27.