Ploughing fest rakes in €50m

THE Ploughing Championships is worth around €50million a year – making it Ireland’s most successful revenue-generating festival.

The most successful event is the Horse Show, which brings in more than €50million over five days, compared to the Ploughing’s three days.

The championships’ money-making ability was last examined in 2013 when UCD researchers estimated the benefit of the 2011 event to the national and local economies combined at €36million.

Then, attendance was just under 180,000. In 2017, 300,000 attended and although that was down around 50,000 this year due to Storm Ali, it’s generating a similar income. Anne Marie McHugh of the National Ploughing Championships told the Mail: ‘We have grown substantially since [2011] and we estimate we are worth now around €50million.’