Myerscough College Open Day & Country Fair named finalist in Lancashire Tourism Awards 2019

The prestigious awards recognise and celebrate the very best that Lancashire has to offer in terms of all aspects of the tourism sector. Myerscough’s Open Day & Country Fair has been shortlisted in the category of Small Event of the Year (up to 15,000 visitors).

Marketing Lancashire has announced the finalists for the awards, which will be held on Thursday 7th November at the Pleasure Beach Arena, Blackpool, supported by Headline Sponsor, University of Central Lancashire and Host Sponsor VisitBlackpool.

The finalists have been through rigorous shortlisting in order to reach this stage of the competition.  Each of the finalists will now be invited to interviews with the expert panels of judges, before the winner in each of the 22 categories will be announced on the night.

2019 was another bumper year for the Myerscough College Open Day & Country Fair, as thousands of people were welcomed to the College’s main Bilsborrow campus to enjoy the excellent weather and the hundreds of attractions on offer.

The College's biggest event of the year is now well established as one of the best days out in Lancashire's outdoor events calendar. An action-packed family fun day out, the event includes a large array of demonstrations, shows and interactive activities from the College’s many diverse subject areas as well as food, drink and entertainment. Prospective students also get the chance to see the beautiful campus at its best and chat with tutors and staff from each area.

The Open Day & Country Fair is a major undertaking for Myerscough and involves months of preparation by staff and students as well as working closely with dozens of partners, third party companies and exhibitors from across the county.

Highlights of the day in 2019 included a headline performance from the 3SIXTY Stunt bicycle team, the ever popular Sheep Show and the Dog and Duck Show, equestrian shows and demonstrations, motorsport and machinery displays, agricultural shows and falconry demonstrations, photography and floral exhibitions, a Sport Zone and children’s activities. The agriculture and countryside zones and superb landscaped gardens also proved extremely popular.

The BASC scurry proved a hit, as did a giant Children's Inflatable Playground and sheep dog trial demonstration. Visitors also enjoyed tractor and trailer rides, farm tours, off-road driving experiences, while visitors were also able to have a look at the College’s array of new buildings, and enjoy other ‘have-a-go’ activities, including landscaping, button hole making and planting.

Myerscough was also honoured to welcome a special visitor to the event, as the RAF performed a flypast with their famous Avro Lancaster aircraft, making a number of passes across the main countryside arena. The Avro Lancaster is the most successful RAF heavy bomber of World War Two, and only two Lancaster aircraft remain in airworthy condition in the world.

Rachel McQueen, Chief Executive of Marketing Lancashire, said: “Congratulations to our finalists, who have successfully reached the final stage of this year’s search for Lancashire’s best tourism businesses.  The county’s £4.25 billion visitor economy is a major contributor to the wider Lancashire economy and together our tourism businesses help attract over 67 million visitors; visitors who enjoy an unparalleled choice of quality experiences, events and hospitality that’s hard to beat anywhere in the country.

“Every year we’re incredibly proud to field a spectacular list of finalists.  Each has demonstrated significant growth, development or success over the last twelve months to reach this level of the competition, and that is a wonderful reflection on the health and vitality of tourism in Lancashire. I look forward to celebrating with our finalists, partners and sponsors at the Pleasure Beach Arena, where I’ll be leading the applause for this year’s Lancashire Tourism Award 2019 winners.’’

https://www.lancashiretourismawards.com/