As many of you will be aware, CVKS held its open show over the weekend of 6th and 7th August and this was a well-attended and successful event, enjoyed by all.
Rather than just do the usual post of the winners etc. we thought it would be interesting to share some of the activities and challenges that go into running a show.
Following our AGM in January, our Show Chairman, Alan, gathered a “willing band” of 7 volunteers who joined him at his home to start planning the show over copious coffee, tea and biscuits.
With most of us having been involved in running our previous show, we at least had a good idea of the tasks we had ahead of us but knew we had a few potential extra challenges this year. On the plus side, we had secured a great venue again in Buckhatch Nursery (BHN) and that they were replacing the greenhouse we had previously used with a new one. On the downside, we had been made aware that during lockdown, some of the club’s equipment had “gone walkies”. So on top of scoping out the usual tasks for the show, top of our action list was meeting at our container store to do an inventory – this lead to some bad news; amongst the missing list were many vats, hoses and other items key to running a show. On a brighter note, a visit to BHN to check on the construction of the new greenhouse revealed, we would once again have a good space albeit a replan of our previous build would be needed to accommodate the new layout of the building.

At our next meeting, we were able to agree how many vats and dealers stands we could accommodate and start to calculate, based on previous experience, what costs we would need to cover and allocate actions to the team.
Over the next few weeks we:
• Established the South East would be able to loan us some vats – Thank you Mick and team
• Contacted dealers to discuss taking a pitch. Whilst due to unfortunate circumstances (including Covid hitting us again) a couple had to drop out at late notice, thank you to those that did attend: Akahana Koi, Burtons Aquatics, Carp Co, Isle of Ely Koi, Manor Koi, World of Nishikigoi
• Started to advertise the show and how to reserve a vat
• Organised the market stands for the vat run and water supply
• Spoke to dealers to see if they could assist with sponsor ship and items we needed. On that front, a special mention to:
o Koi Water Barn for sponsoring the trophies
o Isle of Ely for the majority of food prizes
o Carp Co for the shirts for our show team
o Byer Koi Farm, Cuttlebrook Koi Farm and EZ Pond for enabling us to purchase new vat screens
o Akahana Koi and Select Nishikigoi who supplied koi we were able to auction to our members at the show BBQ
o Koi Show Vats for the small vat
o Queni Koi who supplied new airline and airstones for all the vats
o Chosen Koi who in addition to significant sponsorship provided numerous vouchers
o Kusuri, Coastal Koi, Burtons and our hosts BHN for multiple raffle prizes

We also thankfully enlisted the help of some existing and new friends of the club:
o Dave Edge, who not only ensured the water quality was maintained but helped the team throughout
o Rob Whittell, BKKS Chairman, who stepped in to guide us through using Koi Show Pro but worked tirelessly with a couple of our members to bench the koi
o Liam Bess, who not only brought his photography skills but was another willing pair of hands

There were of course many other items on the to do list and people who chipped in to support us and we thank everyone who helped.

Next a few highlights from the main event:
Wednesday before the show a handful of volunteers collect the equipment and bring it to the show venue where:
o The vat run framework is erected
o All the vats are disinfected, put in place and a few inches of water added to check for leaks
o Water reservoirs are filled

On Thursday, the team grows, the vats are filled with water dechlorinated and tested by Dave and the airlines and airstones are all put in place. We ensure we have disinfectant and rinse vats in place plus spare/hospital vat and numerous other jobs are done including putting up the screens for bio security and vat boards

On Friday, fish are arriving early and benching starts (with the benching team finally finishing around 9pm). Once all the fish are in the vats they are separated from the public space by banners and the team post all the details on the vat boards. Dealers also arrive throughout the day and set up. This is a logistical exercise given the garden centre is open for business and we must be careful not to disturb their customers. Overnight, things are relatively quiet apart from fish in one vat who decide it was time to spawn!

Saturday equals judgement day! The water team are in early and refresh the vats. Our 3 BKKS judges arrive and as agreed by 10.00 am we are ready for them to go. Pleasingly, this goes without a hitch and even with a stop for lunch, judging is complete by mid-afternoon. A steady flow of visitors is seen throughout the day and dealers do a good trade. In the evening, covers are put on the vats and the admin team get ready to post the results whilst the BBQ is being fired up. Club members enjoy the BBQ and refreshments and join in a raffle and auction for koi from Select Nishikigoi and Akahana Koi and the small vat from Show Vats. After a thoroughly good evening, we leave the overnight team to look after the koi.

Note in the pic some of our members sporting the shirts supplied by Carp Co

Sunday equals results day. Rather than duplicate them all here, at the foot of this article is the benching matrix and links the World of Nishikigoi where Liam has post details of all the main winners along with some excellent photos (once again, thank you Liam). It’s another busy day and as with the previous day, visitors are asked to take part in the tombola, guess the cuddly koi name and raffle which helps raise funds towards the cost of the show – the show is free to enter but hiring the venue and everything needed to run a show is an expensive outlay. 2.30pm soon arrives and the raffle is pulled and followed swiftly by the presentation of awards. We were joined by Keith Holmes from KWB who presented the trophies and our Club President, Keith Bertie presented koi food prizes to the winners of the majors (photo of the presentation kindly supplied by Liam Bess)

At 4pm, the rush for the door saw dealers packing up and exhibitors debenching their koi. A small band of members then returned to the show for the crash down and by dark, all the vats were empty and drying and all the equipment either on its way to our store or packed and ready to go.
Monday sees a handful of club members finish the crash down and the venue is left clear.

So that’s a brief summary of our 2022 Open Show.

The club and our Show Chairman would very much like to thank:
• BHN for hosting us
• All the dealers and sponsors however big or small
• The exhibitors who trusted us to look after their precious koi
• The judging team from the BKKS
• Dave Edge, Rob Whittell and Liam Bess – it is great when koi people come together and support each other
• The show committee and members who assisted throughout the weekend with running the show, the tombola, the raffle, the food and any other contribution
• Our visitors – we love our koi but what is a show without visitors and its great to see several have joined or are coming along to meetings to see if they wish to join. Remember, our meetings are on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at Wick Community Centre and all are welcome with no commitment to join. Our membership secretary is Darren Hepple who can be contacted at darrenhepple1@aol.com

We hope you enjoyed our show.
Congratulations to all the winners.

We look forward to seeing you in August 2023

Remember, to see a report of the winning fish and prize presentation, check out Liam’s blogs at https://www.worldofnishikigoi.com/blog

Majors – https://www.worldofnishikigoi.com/post/major-awards-the-crouch-valley-koi-show

Best is Size and Class – https://www.worldofnishikigoi.com/post/best-in-awards-crouch-valley-koi-show-2022