On the last Saturday of every August, the village of Hawkesbury Upton is transformed. Marquees rise on the recreation ground, a silver band leads a carnival procession through the High Street, and around two thousand visitors crowd in to judge — and be judged on — the biggest marrows, the finest dahlias, and the best Victoria sponge in South Gloucestershire.
The Hawkesbury Horticultural Show has been running since 1885, and for over a century it held an extraordinary record: it had never once been cancelled. Not for adverse weather, not during the First World War, not during the Second. While the rest of England shut down, Hawkesbury kept showing its vegetables. The streak finally ended in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the first cancellation in the show's 135-year history. Villagers returned with renewed determination in 2021.
The show's presidency has long been held by the Duke of Beaufort, reflecting the deep connection between the village and the Badminton estate. Classes range from the traditional — fruit, flowers, vegetables, home baking — to photography, children's crafts, and home-made wine. The crowning of the Carnival King or Queen at 12.30pm signals the true start of the festivities.
“Villagers returned with renewed determination in 2021.”
For walkers on the Cotswold Way, timing a visit to coincide with the August show offers a glimpse of a rural tradition that has outlasted almost everything around it. The village's two pubs, the Beaufort Arms and the Fox Inn, provide ample opportunity to recover from the trail — and to toast the show's remarkable persistence.
