With the ring of a cowbell, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, officially opened the 2023 Agriculture Show on Ash Wednesday, before taking a tour of the grounds where she encountered cows, goats, rabbits and chickens, as well as many of the vendors at the show.
Traffic congestion and parking hiccups delayed the opening, but a rendition of ‘God Save the King’, a quick ring of the bell, and the show was declared open shortly after 11am, rather than the expected 10am.
By then, the grounds were already packed, as thousands had arrived earlier in the morning. Organisers said 8,000 tickets had already been sold by 8:30am.
Well past lunchtime, the crowds were still coming in, and with the car parks filling to capacity, drivers and their passengers were urged to make use of the free Park ‘n’ Ride service.
This was the first time since 2020 that the show had been held, and it seemed more people than ever wanted to come and spend the day celebrating all things agricultural.
And there was plenty to see, among the livestock, the chickens, geese and rabbits, the plants, the food and fresh fruit-juice stalls, the farm machinery, the mechanical bull, and live performances by a variety of artists.
Royal tour
While her husband Prince Edward was arriving by boat at the Cayman Islands Coast Guard base on Grand Cayman, Sophie was taking a tour of the Agricultural Grounds, accompanied by Premier Wayne Panton, Minister of Agriculture Jay Ebanks, East End MP Isaac Rankine and other officials. George Smith, president of the Cayman Islands Agricultural Society, led the tour.
The countess stopped and talked to several of the vendors at the show, often complimenting them on their wares, and asking plenty of questions.
Jennett Powell, at the Bonafide Farmer stall, said she hadn’t been aware at first that the lady who was asking about the jams and sauces at her table was royalty.
“Then I saw this crowd around her and someone told me,” Powell said, adding that she treated Sophie and the other dignitaries just like she would any other customer – with good service.
She said the countess had been particularly interested in her jars of mango jam.
Sophie also stopped off Martin Richter’s Farm Fresh stall and had a “very good” chat with him, he said.
“People often come as a courtesy, but she showed genuine interest in our coconut butter. I wish I could have given her one to take home,” he said, adding that she said, ‘Wow, it is unique’.”
It wasn’t just produce stalls she visited. She also dropped by the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Association of the Cayman Islands, which had a table inside the agriculture pavilion. Lana Mae Smith, a member of the ADACI board, said the countess asked several questions about the association, and seemed very interested in their work.
“She asked if we were affiliated with [Alzheimer’s Disease International], and I told that we were, and that we’d travelled to Budapest to join as an affiliate,” Smith said. “She said she thought it was very impressive that an island this small has the international affiliation.”
ADACI was accepted as a member of the Alzheimer’s Disease International in 2021.
Smith said the countess had described the work of the charity as being for a good cause. “And it is,” Smith said, “because dementia is becoming more and more recognised to be a leading cause of early death.”
Following her tour, Premier Panton presented the Countess with traditional handmade silver thatch items, including a handbag.
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