By Selena Masson
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
The CLA Game Fair, held at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on 25 to 27 July, proved a massive success.
Organisers reported a record attendance that boasted royalty and politicians - as well as numerous celebrities and public figures.
The attendance figure of 151,000 smashed all records.
Saturday was the busiest day, with crowds increasing by 8,000 or so on Friday's numbers.
A delighted CLA fair organiser, Fiona Eastman, told Shooting Times: "I'm sure a lot of this success was to do with the unfortunate cancellation of last year's Game Fair, but Blenheim is also a truly popular location and of course the weather was simply fantastic for all three days. Throughout the whole event everyone was just so happy to be at the fair. Exhibitors in all areas did very buoyant business."
Special guests at the fair included HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, DEFRA's Lord Rooker and the leader of the Opposition, David Cameron - all of whom were given tours of the showground and shown the huge variety of work conducted by the numerous organisations attending.
Channel 4's Phil Spencer launched the CLA's new fly-tipping initiative, while John Craven from BBC's Countryfile spent the weekend at the fair filming the event for this Sunday's edition of the show, which included an interview with ST's former editor, Tony Jackson, about the special CLA Game Fair anniversary book, to which he was the major contributor.
The rest of this article appears in 31 July issue of Shooting Times.
CLA Game Fair PHOTO GALLERY
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