News
Updated Eligibility for Livestock competition
Following consultation with the Scottish Government and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, the organising team of the Festival have decided to follow the scientific advice and allow movement of animals from the north of England into Scotland for the Festival in October.
The owners and keepers of the livestock concerned will be required to adhere to the terms of the General Licence for travel which can be found here:
However, the organising team have placed an additional restriction as follows:
Any Sheep or Goat coming from the BTV restricted zone must return to the same CPH at the end of the Festival. It is extremely unlikely that we will have either cattle or camelids coming to the show from the zone but if so the same would apply.
We recognise that some keepers in Scotland will feel uneasy at this decision, however we would reassure you that we have taken extensive advice and have concluded that a continued blanket ban for our event is no longer justified by the science, and that the risk of transmission is incredibly low. Please note that Bluetongue is an insect-borne viral disease that affects sheep, cattle, other ruminants such as goats, and camelids such as llamas. It cannot be spread directly between animals and relies on the midge as a vector for transmission. (source: https://www.gov.scot/publications/bluetongue/pages/overview/)
We are grateful to Dr Amy Jennings who is Veterinary Lead (Scotland) from APHA for her support, and also for her agreement to giving a talk on disease at the Festival. You can join Amy in seminar room 2 at 1130.
24th September 2025
