SHEARING teams from across the world are being encouraged to apply for the 2023 Golden Shears World Sheep Shearing & Wool Handling Championships which will take place at the 2023 Royal Highland Show from June 22-25.

With almost 200,000 visitors flocking to the Royal Highland Show, next year’s competition – which takes place over four days and is likely to attract shearers from more than 30 countries across the globe – will be viewed by a huge audience both at the show and online.

In 2022, more than 200,000 people from 82 countries tuned into the Royal Highland Show’s online viewing platform, RHS TV.

Competitors will be treated to a taste of Scottish hospitality with a gala dinner to open the competition, and will have the opportunity to experience being part of the Royal Highland Show – an iconic event

in the Scottish cultural calendar.

Jim Warnock, chairman of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS), said: “There is no better stage than the Royal Highland Show to celebrate the amazing skills of competitors at the Golden Shears. Scotland has a long and renowned heritage of sheep farming and wool handling, so it is fitting that the show will host this prestigious competition.

“The show offers a great experience for the whole family. The addition of the Golden Shears only adds to the appeal of an already excellent day out, and offers a world stage on which competitors can display their skills.”

The Royal Highland Show is the flagship event of Scottish charity the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS).

Applications for the Golden Shears 2023 can be made at www.royalhighlandshow.org and will close in early January 2023.