All the fun of Malvern Autumn Show

To be completely honest, I was surprised to discover that the Royal Horticultural Society’s Annual Autumn Show on the Three Counties Showground in Malvern displayed a really different fun for all the family vibe from its Spring blooms extravaganza writes Nigel Heath.

Then growers from right across the country descended on the ninety-acres site with its magnificent backdrop of the Malvern Hills to tempt a record ninety thousand gardening enthusiasts to beautify their gardens for the coming summer then, blissfully unaware that in the blistering hot weather to follow, watering cans would come to the fore.

So, while in the traditional Autumn show’s Harvest Pavilion a selection of ginormous exhibits clocked up no less than seven Guiness World Records and attracted a large crowd, cameras at the ready, there was a host of other highlights with something of attention-grabbing interest for the whole family.

We entered by the North Gate and instead of making straight for the traditional giant Floral Marquee a few steps away, found ourselves gazing at a large and colourful funfair with the traditional gallopers, dodgems, other rides and sideshows and dominated by a giant helter-skelter.

In a flash I was once again an excited six-year-old strolling with my parents across the Salthouse Field close to the prom in the Victorian seaside town of Clevedon, towards Joseph Heal’s funfair which was always there on major high-days and holidays.

What a shame we did not have my wife Jenny’s eight-year-old granddaughter Elvy with us so that I could re-live some of those wonderful childhood experiences.

The Swing Boats, colourful Carousel, Big Wheel and I catching Helter-Skelter cone shaped tower all dating back to the 1940s and are all part of the Great British Funfair run by the latest generation of the Price family from Gloucester.

And to stay ‘in the mood,’ I could not believe my eyes when we came upon a marquee to find amateur dancers from across South-Wales and the South-West in period costume and dancing to swing and other dances from the Big Band era. They are all linked to a Swindon based dance class business.

Not to digress any further we moved on to the Harvest Pavilion where a giant pumpkin weighing a whopping 2,773 pounds was stealing the show. It was grown in a greenhouse by Lymington Market Gardener Ian Paton and his brother Stuart but was not the world record weight which is 2,819 pounds and which Ian also holds.

But seven Guiness Book of World Records were broken at the show for the tallest cucumber (7.958m) longest dandelion root (1.25m) heaviest Luffa,(5.014kg) sweetcorn kernel (0.408kg) sunflower head ( 7,808kg) beetroot ( 26.0kg) and longest tromboncino ( 1.486m).

These were also other Show to Grow classes which included vegetables, cut flowers, fruit, alpines, succulents and more.

While TV personality Monty Don and other top gardening personalities gave talks and demonstrations to packed audiences, The Great Malvern Cake Off tent sponsored by Visit Malverns featured celebrity bakers and a whole host of classes including a decorating gingerbread one for kids.

So back to the fun for all the family, there was a great opportunity for the dads to pop into The Wheatsheaf, a mobile made in his garden pub by Mike Smith from Worcester who was assisted behind the bar by his friend Taylor who lives near Monmouth.

The pub conveniently situated close to a parade of old military vehicles has so far raised more than £76,500 for military charities.

While for mum’s there was the chance to try on period costumes and take part in a parade back at the Big Band era marquee, there were many more entertainments for the kids including the chance to stroke three giant Pacific turtles in a special enclosure.

And kids also had the opportunity of riding around a track in a mini jeep and receiving their own driving licence at the end of it and of climbing aboard Red Arrows and Midlands Air Ambulance display craft.

On a more serious note, Malvern Autumn Show Manager Kate Dufton said her whole team were delighted with the sheer number of entries and records broken at this year’s CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championships.

But as we left the show I suggested to Jenny that we should return on Sunday so that her granddaughter Elvy could enjoy all the fun of the Malvern Autumn Show and so we did!

The annual Malvern Autumn Show, incorporating the prestigious RHS Flower Show, took place from September 25 to 27, 2026, at the Three Counties Showground. This premier harvest celebration featured spectacular displays from top UK nurseries, the famous CANNA UK National Giant Vegetables Championship, and expert gardening talks. It beautifully celebrated the very best of autumn gardening, food, and country life.