Downing Street Christmas tree chosen in Harrogate today

A competition to find a Christmas tree for Downing Street was held in Harrogate today.

Yorkshire shepherdess Amanda Owen, from Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, and Peter Wright from The Yorkshire Vet were joined by last year’s winners from Devon and Leicestershire to judge the entries.

The competition has been running since 1999 but this is the first time it has been held in Harrogate. It is also the first time celebrity judges have been invited.

Due to covid, the participants were unable to attend in person.

They sent their trees to the Great Yorkshire Showground where the judges selected the winners in various categories, including the prestigious ‘champion Christmas tree grower of the year’.

York Christmas Trees was crowned the winner of that category and one of its trees will have the distinction of standing outside 10 Downing Street over the festive period.

The winner of champion festive wreath category was Welford Christmas tree farm from Northampton. Its wreath will hang on the door of the Prime Minister’s residence.

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Oliver Combe of York Christmas Trees said:

“We are a small local family business who have been growing trees for over 20 years. We are overwhelmed to have won the title of champion grower for 2020, it is a huge accolade!”

The competition is run by the The British Christmas Tree Growers Association.

Heather Parry, who is the managing agent for BCTGA as well as the managing director of Yorkshire Event Centre said:

“The quality and the amazing scent of the trees on display was incredible; this is truly the Oscars for Christmas trees. It was heartening to hear also that many growers are selling more trees than normal, as consumers plan ahead to have a real Christmas tree as the centrepiece of their home this year”.

Harrogate hosts contest to find Downing Street Christmas tree

The competition to find Britain’s best Christmas tree, which will then stand outside Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Downing Street home, is to be held in Harrogate this month.

It is the first time the town has been chosen to stage the event, which also includes a category to find a champion wreath to hang on the PM’s door at number 10.

The competition will take place at the Great Yorkshire Showground on October 28.

It is run by the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, which is now managed by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

The association, which is a trade group for people who grow specialist Christmas trees, has 320 members nationally.

Yorkshire TV stars Amanda Owen, shepherdess on Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm, and Peter Wright, from Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet, will join the judging panel.

Because of covid, growers will send their tress to the ground but will be unable to attend in person.

Heather Parry, managing agent for the BCTGA, who is also the managing director of Yorkshire Event Centre, said:

“We are very much looking forward to seeing the best in the business being crowned, right here on the Great Yorkshire Showground. The champion tree winner will head to 10 Downing Street to provide that iconic Christmas tree for this year.”

Peter Wright said:

“There’s nothing like the scent of a real Christmas tree to really launch you into the festive spirit and I am really looking forward to seeing some of the best in Britain at the Showground.”

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Many growers in the competition have changed their business to suit covid measures by, for instance, introducing online sales and allowing customers to pick their own tree with social distancing measures.

Christmas tree orders are reported to have already exceeded early orders from 2019.

Yorkshire Showground cancelled events worth over £70 million

Harrogate’s Yorkshire Event Centre has calculated the huge impact its cancelled events have had on the local economy.

To date, 148 events have been cancelled or postponed at the Yorkshire Event Centre and Pavilions of Harrogate, both owned by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society. The total cost of struck-off events has cost the Centre nearly £6 million, but the total cost to the Harrogate economy is much higher.

Cafés, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, hotels and other local businesses have all struggled as a result.

Heather Parry, Managing Director of Yorkshire Event Centre Ltd, said:

“This is a challenging year for events businesses and it is no different for us at the Great Yorkshire Showground. Last year, businesses and events at the Showground were worth £73.7 million to the local economy.”

The calculation comes days after the Harrogate Convention Centre, home of the Nightingale Hospital, announced it will remain closed until March next year.

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The Yorkshire Event Centre sits in the Great Yorkshire Showground. The venue is home to some of the country’s biggest shows including The Great Yorkshire Show itself, which welcomes more than 130,000 visitors to the Harrogate district.

Bev Kemp, owner of The Bijou in Harrogate said:

“We rely very highly on events for tourism, a heck of a lot. We have lost the biggest conferences this year and I don’t know if we’re going to get them back. From March when lockdown started I would say at least 60% of our bookings have been cancelled, possibly more. We always get lots of people for the Great Yorkshire Show so that’s a huge loss. I am worried about hospitality on the whole in Harrogate. I think it’s going to take a few years to pick up.”

But, Ms Parry remains positive with future events coming to the showground. The Harrogate Bridal Show, the UK’s largest and longest running bridal event, has still been given the go-ahead in October.

Ms Parry said:

“We have taken robust steps to ensure that we can provide a safe, secure and flexible space to host events, in line with the latest government advice on social gatherings. As such, we have worked closely with the organisers of the Harrogate Bridal Show to meet their requirements.

The Harrogate Bridal Show is expected to run at the Yorkshire Event Centre from October 4 – 6.