Welcome back to Blenheim
In just over a week, The Game Fair returns to Blenheim Palace for the first time in ten years. Claim your complimentary BASC member entry.
- - Features
- - Features
BASC at The Game Fair
Now in its 65th year, the Game Fair is regarded as the UK’s flagship country event and a celebration of all things countryside. This year, once again, BASC members are eligible for complimentary entry… And there’s much to look forward to.
Complimentary entry for BASC members
Set in the beautiful grounds of Ragley Hall estate in Warwickshire, this year the event runs from Friday 28 to Sunday 30 July.
As official partner of The Game Fair, BASC not only offers members complimentary entry to the whole show but maintains a large presence which showcases the organisation and the breadth of work it is involved with.
Complimentary entry applies to all membership categories and for all three show days. We encourage all members who are coming to the show to download their tickets as early as possible. This is done most easily online where you will also be able to purchase guest tickets at a discounted rate and add any other packages and upgrades to your order.
BASC at The Game Fair
Our action-packed sustainable shooting-themed main stand will feature interactive displays and representatives from all of our specialist departments, including conservation, game and wildlife, wildfowling, deer, and firearms. We will also have an area focussing on sustainable ammunition, where visitors can find out the latest updates and learn more about product testing case studies carried out by BASC staff. Our aim is to deliver key messages to visitors, be a source of information and be available to handle any shooting- or countryside-related enquiry that visitors may have.
In addition, our commercial services team will be attending with a range of the latest BASC member offers and products, the press team will be on hand to explain our work in the media, and membership services will offer visitors the opportunity to join BASC or renew their memberships.
Over the past few years, BASC has used The Game Fair as an opportunity to engage directly with key politicians. Last year we hosted Defra ministers, Labour shadow ministers and more than 30 MPs. The ability to detail the work that the association and its 150,000 members are doing on a range of subjects provides a powerful boost to our lobbying for shooting and conservation in the corridors of power. This year we are again on track to host and provide tickets to over 100 MPs, peers, parliamentary teams and civil servants.
The BASC shotgun coaching line
… will be open to everyone for one-to-one lessons or experiences with a BASC coach.
Enjoy a lesson with a qualified coach and learn about eye dominance, safe gun handling, correct stance, gun fit, gun mount and how to hit a moving target. The fee includes the cost of cartridges, clay targets, eye and ear protection, and the loan of a shotgun and shooting vest.
If you have your own shotgun with you at the fair and you are experiencing problems with gun fit, please do come and chat with our coaches.
- 16-year-olds and under: £10 for BASC members; £15 for non-members.
- Adults: £15 for members; £20 for non-members.
- As well as lessons, there will also be an opportunity for beginners and experienced shooters alike to shoot informally with a coach in our ‘shotgun experience’. £10 for 10 shots.
Try sustainable ammunition
Experience shooting with steel shot under the supervision of a qualified BASC shotgun coach. Experts will be on hand to answer questions. Open to anyone over the age of 16; ten shots for £10.
BASC Shotgun Safe Shot
The Safe Shot assessment was designed with the knowledgeable live quarry shooter in mind. Since the scheme launched at the CLA Game Fair in 1998, many people have taken the award and proudly wear their bronze Safe Shot pin on their shooting kit.
To be awarded the Safe Shot badge, you must complete:
- a short multiple-choice question paper on safety;
- an empty gun handling section, including crossing an obstacle; and
- prove that you can load and fire the gun safely at a clay target from a shooting cage.
The Safe Shot assessment costs just £30 and takes 20 minutes of your time.
The BASC air rifle range
A ‘have a go’ shooting opportunity is open to everyone, with tuition from BASC coaches using some of the latest BSA air rifles. £3 for ten shots.
BASC gundog scurries
Our scurries range from a straightforward marked dummy to more challenging exercises such as the ‘pick and mix’, but the aim is always the same – for a dog to retrieve a dummy in the quickest time possible.
Don’t be put off if you have never entered a scurry before; these exercises provide fun for both the handler and dog. It’s easy to take part, too – just turn up with your dog on the day, take as many fun runs as you want and then take your turn in the scurry competition if you wish to do so.
BASC volunteers and staff will be on hand to help. There will be plenty of prizes each day for all of our on-the-day competitions. These scurries and the BASC gundog programme are kindly supported and sponsored by Skinner’s and Sporting Saint.
The BASC Wild Food Theatre
On the Friday, several Eat Game Awards winners, including Marc Humm, Lionel Strub and Scott Rea, will be in attendance. Scott will be giving a masterclass in sausage making. Wild food favourite Rachel Green will also be on hand.
On Saturday, TV presenter and singer JB Gill will be joining Jose Souto on stage for live cooking and a butchery demonstration, and chef Mark Lloyd and nutritionist Eva Humphries will be doing their thing.
The final day of the fair will see comedian and actor Paul Whitehouse from TV’s Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, and everyone’s favourite chef Tony Singh, take to the stage.
BASC Honours and Awards 2023
The 2023 BASC Honours and Awards presentation will take place on Sunday. Categories include:
- Honorary Life Membership;
- The Prince Philip Distinguished Service Award;
- The Payne-Gallwey Long Service Award;
- The Ian Richardson Trophy;
- The Tim Sedgwick Trophy;
- The Ladies’ Shooting Award; and
- Special Presentation Awards.
You can learn more about them at basc.org.uk/basc-honours-and-awards
Book your tickets for The Game Fair 2023
- The show typically attracts 120,000 visitors over three days.
- Entrance on each day is normally £35 for adults who are not BASC members.
- BASC’s main stand is located in the centre of the showground, near the main arena.
- The cost of a BASC shotgun coaching lesson(members’ rate) is £15; shotgun experience is £10.
- The cost of the BASC airgun experience is £3 for ten shots.
- The cost to run in the gundog scurry is £2 per run, £5 per competition entry.
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Marta Jacyna
Marta Jacyna is BASC’s communications officer. She is passionate about the countryside and enjoys deer stalking and foraging for food.
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Things to see and do at The Game Fair
This summer The Game Fair returns to Ragley Hall in Warwickshire for the seventh time in its 65-year history.
