STONELEIGH SHOW WILL BE BACK SOON!

LIKE many others, I was really disappointed to learn of the decision to postpone this year’s The Big One Show at Stoneleigh.

Following on from the success of the long-running Big One Farnborough, the Stoneleigh event was launched in 2019 to provide an angling show for the thousands of anglers based in the Midlands.

The launch show was well received, and the 2020 event was honestly one of the best I’ve ever attended. The atmosphere was fantastic and there was a real mixture of brands displaying their products. And then, of course, Covid hit, large-scale indoor events were rightly put on hold, and it was a really tough couple of years for the entire events industry.

After two years of pretty much just interacting on screens, the return of The Big One Shows last year felt like an angling reunion, as people from all over the trade were able to meet up again.

Following the news of this year’s show being postponed I’ve seen a lot of comments from justifiably upset anglers in the region saying that the show is neglecting or ignoring them.

I work with the team who put the The Big One Shows together, and I can assure you that we are as disappointed as everyone. We know how many passionate anglers there are in the Midlands, which was why we wanted to bring a show back to the region in the first place. But we also know that it isn’t fair for us to run a show which we know won’t live up to the expectations of the visitors. We also know how much work goes into these shows from the exhibitors in terms of organising stock, show deals and the general logisitics of arranging staff.

Rest assured, there is a fantastic group of people who work incredibly hard to bring these events together, and they are all determined to see the Stoneleigh show back on the event calendar as soon as possible.