Game Fair 2026 closes with new champions at Ragley Hall

The Game Fair 2026 closed at Ragley Hall in Warwickshire on Sunday 26 July with more than 100 working dogs on parade and new champions crowned in the gundog, clay shooting and fly casting competitions. Organisers ended the weekend by confirming next year’s dates of 23 to 25 July 2027 and teasing “a big announcement coming soon”.

Who won the Home International?

Team England won the Home International, the team gundog competition that has been part of the fair’s gundog programme since 1969, after what organisers described as an outstanding display of teamwork, handling and gundog ability.

The final day had opened with the Game Fair Parade, in which more than 100 dogs of 23 breeds, retrievers, spaniels, setters, pointers and HPRs among them, made their way from the Gundog Arena to the Main Arena led by the Coventry Scout Group and the Alcester Court Leet. The parade included a presentation to Neil Rice, recognising the 11 years he has spent arranging the Sporting Dog Pavilion in the Meet the Breeds area.

In the Minority Gundog Breed Challenge, the Chesapeake Bay retriever team took first place ahead of the Irish water spaniels in second and the Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers in third.

Who were the Game Fair Challenge high guns?

The E.J. Churchill Game Fair Challenge high guns were crowned in the Main Arena, each winning a six-month lease of the latest Isuzu D-Max from the competition’s official vehicle sponsor.

James Bradley-Day took the male high gun title with 49 ex 50, and Ellie Jones the female title with 46 ex 50.

What did the young shots and fly casters win?

The CPSA Colts Challenge brought together 20 of England’s top-ranked English Sporting shooters aged under 16, with Arthur Lomas crowned 2026 CPSA Colts champion.

In the BFCC Fly Casting Championship, contested across trout distance, trout accuracy and double-handed overhead salmon distance, James Evans claimed the open title with a combined score of 294.8% and Ben Thomas took the junior title with a perfect 300% across the three disciplines.

What happens next

Organisers have not yet published a closing statement or an attendance figure for the 2026 fair. The Game Fair returns from 23 to 25 July 2027, and organisers say a “big announcement” will follow soon, with a sign-up open for those who want the news first.