FULFORD SHOW: Nine dragons, giant marrows - and an egg and spoon race

But there were supposedly several of them around this Bank Holiday Monday afternoon– nine, in fact, on the school playing fields.

Admittedly, you could only actually see one – and even that was very obviously a man dancing around in a kind of cape with an ornate dragon head-dress.

But he was dancing to a piece of traditional Japanese drum music being rattled out by the Tengu Taiko drummers entitled Nine Dragons – so the rest of them must have been around somewhere.

Dragon dance at the Fulford Show, with the Tengu Taiko drummers (Image: Sara Sault)

It was certainly a rattling good bank holiday afternoon for families.

The playing field off School Lane was packed with stalls, tents and tombolas, selling everything from home made honey to arts, crafts and bric a brac.

There was a bouncy castle and a carousel, two live music acts – New Notes and The Chordites - in addition to the Tengu Taiko drummers and, filling the social hall a little way down the road, room after room of proud exhibits.

Live music at the Fulford Show (Image: Stephen Lewis)

These included giant marrows and pumpkins, floral displays, examples of art and needlework – and even a children’s section made up of animals cunningly designed out of pieces of fruit.

It was all leading up to this afternoon’s key highlights - the Fulford Show races.

These started at 4.15 pm. They featured a sprint and egg and spoon races and, to finish everything off, the tug-of-wars that have become a traditional end to the show.

After the rain yesterday, the weather this afternoon remained warm and dry, if overcast.

It all made for a great family fun day out, said Verna Campbell, the Fulford Show chair.

Fulford Show chair Verna Campbell at the show (Image: Stephen Lewis)

The show has been a tradition in Fulford for well over a century.

A schedule from 1903 mentioned competition classes for plants, cut flowers, fruit, vegetables, bread, butter, eggs, poultry, pigeons, rabbits and horses. There were also sports - including a 'Leaping Competition' and 'A Hack Ridden By A Lady'.

Prize-winning veg at the Fulford Show (Image: Sara Sault)

There was nothing quite like that today.

But the egg and spoon race is always great fun, Verna said – especially the under-5s event. “They never understand that they’re not supposed to hold the egg on the spoon!” Verna said.

And the tug of war is always a great show-stopper too.

There’s a boys and girls event first – followed by an adult men vs women version.

The traditional show-ending tug-of-war at the Fulford Show (Image: Supplied)

It can get quite competitive within families at times, Verna admitted - and it is certainly not always the men who win.

It depends partly on how many people you have pulling on your side, Verna said.

“The women do tend to get more people on their side than the men do…”

Ref! That’s got to be cheating, surely?

Creepy-crawly: an 'animal made from fruit and veg' at the Fulford Show (Image: Stephen Lewis)