When we saw the weather on Saturday we were a little hesitant about venturing to the Euston Hall Estate in Thetford for the East Anglian Game & Country Fair. But we’re British and from Norfolk so we packed the wellies and off we went.
This is the 3rd year it’s been held at the Euston Hall Estate as it was previously at the Norfolk Showground. It’s a beautiful setting and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the off-road drive through to the car park which took us past the piggies.
Activities for All
To start with we were really impressed with how diverse the range of activities and demonstrations were. We loved watching the horse riding events and dog trials, plus there was so much more I’d never seen or heard of before to discover.
One favourite included the K9 Jump-Jet Competition which was a long jump for dogs. Really good fun! We didn’t take Bono with us but dogs are very welcome and he would have loved a go at this.
We were also introduced to a sport called horseboarding. Now this was just amazing to watch. It’s basically wakeboarding on land, combining horse-riding and off-road skateboarding at high speeds around a tricky slalom course. The speeds they got to were amazing and the competition was fierce!
The Forestry Arena was new for 2019, where you could watch lumberjacks compete at speed to climb poles and doo their thing 😉! Need I say any more? There were more traditional country pursuits too and the main arena was packed all day.
The estate had lots of hands-on activities dotted around including clay pigeon shooting, archery, paint ball and even a horse simulator at the Discover Newmarket stand which Wilba was particularly fond of.
The kids weren’t bored either. They had so much to do from fair ground rides to craft activities – even mini 4×4 driving!
Gifts Galore
Then there was the shopping! OMG, what they didn’t have wasn’t worth buying. Clothes, crafts, homewear, food & drink, tools and garden goodies filled the estate. I ended up with a beautiful new fedora hat, handbag and purse from House of Tweed, an obelisk for the garden and lots of food goodies! Many of the stalls came equipt with card payment although there was on-site cah machines.
Food Glorious Food
The food stands were amazing too. Lucy was annoyed because Ashley (her husband) had made a packed lunch to save money but there were loads of really affordable outlets, not to mention the food tents. I counted 2, and if you’re really into your culinary delights there were live cooking demonstrations at the Country Cooking Tent with some top chefs and local producers.
Drinks in the Pub
When we needed somewhere to sit, eat and warm up we were very pleased to find The Dog and Duck. Yes, they even had an on-site pub – with some fantastic live music. There were some really exiting acts advertised over the weekend including Bill Downs (X-Factor and The Voice), plus a Take That tribute band.
The Facilities
Across the site the facilities were excellent. There were handy cash machines available, plenty of portable toilets, a baby-change or two and disabled parking. All-in-all this really was a great family day out. You definitely needed a full day to get round it all. It’s going to be on my calendar for next year and I don’t think Windy will let me forget it.
We had a great time, the East Anglian Game & Country Fair gets a well deserved rating of 🍪🍪🍪🍪 from me!
For more information on similar events or next year’s show please visit their website
Our entrance tickets were gifted, but as always these words are my own.