But now furious traders have been told they face a king-sized price hike to attend next year’s Sandringham Flower Show, when the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) takes over from its volunteer committee.
The RHS, which will be running the event in 2026 and 2029, will be extending the show to five days from July 22 – 26, instead of the usual last Wednesday in July.
King Charles and Queen Camilla at last year’s Sandringham Flower Show(Image: Chris Bishop)
And the society, which runs some of the country’s most prestigious flower shows, has told small businesses they will be charged £218 per square metre for their pitches on the showground.
Show regular Jessica Levett, who runs King’s Lynn-based Floral Lifestyle, said: “I usually pay £350 for my pitch.
“The RHS brochure has just been published and they want £218 plus VAT per square metre, so I’d be paying £4,708.80 next year. It’s absolutely obscene.
Jessica Levett, whose pitch at Sandringham would increase from £350 to more than £4,000 if she attended next July’s Sandringham Flower Show(Image: Supplied)
“It’s across the five days, I get that, but I can’t afford it. There’s good risks and bad risks and this isn’t a risk I’m prepared to take.”
Miss Levett said stallholders felt the show was pricing out the small independent businesses, artisans and crafters that make it special.
She added: “For 143 years, the Sandringham Flower Show has been lovingly run by a committee of volunteers, and has always been a true family event that brings together the community, talented garden designers, growers, independent traders and food producers.
“It’s heart breaking to think that something so special could become inaccessible to the very people who helped make it what it is today.”
Artist Kirstie Steadman has also been angered by the steep increase after the RHS took over next year’s Sandringham Flower Show(Image: Supplied)
Fellow exhibitor Kirstie Steadman, a Norwich-based wildlife artist, said the cost of the 3m by 3m gazebo she set up to sell her prints had also rocketed from the £250 she had been paying for her pitch.
“It’s into the thousands, I haven’t even worked it out,” she said.
“I’ve been going for five or six years, it’s expensive in itself for just the day but it was a good show. I had lots of repeat customers coming back.”
One insider on the Royal estate said: “It’s not geared up for the little low-key stallholders who do such a wonderful job.
“They’re not in the market for a five-day show, the costs are way beyond them.”
Visitors enjoying a floral display in one of the marquees at Sandringham(Image: Chris Bishop)
They added the committee had been presented with a “fait accompli” and told the RHS would be running the show every three years from 2026.
Around 20,000 visitors, including King Charles and Queen Camilla, usually pack into the grounds at Sandringham to enjoy show gardens, floral marquees, trade stands and home-grown produce competitions.
But many of the familiar fare is expected to be absent next July, when the RHS instead promises an “exciting new show” including as-yet unnamed “celebrities and influencers”.
Ticket prices are also expected to go the same way as stallholders’ pitch charges when they go on sale next week.
Visitors admire floral displays in one of the marquees at Sandringham Flower Show(Image: Chris Bishop)
Last year’s event cost £22 on the gate, with under-16s being allowed in for free. Tickets for last year’s Chelsea show were £47.85 or £38.85 for RHS members, while entry to the forthcoming RHS spring show at Malvern from May 7 – 10 is priced from £27.85 – 41.85.
The RHS, which styles itself as the UK’s leading gardening charity, runs flower shows at Chelsea and Hampton Court in London, with events at Malvern in Worcestershire and Badminton in Gloucestershire also planned for next year.
Liz Woznicki, its head of communications for retail and garden experiences, said: “The RHS is excited to work with local committees and communities to expand the Sandringham Flower Show in 2026 to five days to include more horticultural spectacle, generate a greater national awareness and increase visitor numbers to support and celebrate local businesses and organisations at the show.
Many local growers and nurseries have been exhibiting for years at the Sandringham Flower Show(Image: Chris Bishop)
“We very much want the local groups central to the one-day show, which will return in 2027, to be at the heart of the RHS Sandringham Flower Show next year.
“We believe our costs for exhibiting for a major national event, especially considering the increased promotional, marketing and larger visitor volumes are very reasonable.”
The Sandringham Estate and flower show committee were approached for comment.
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