Thousands descend on Rutland's first EVER Global Birdfair
The County's world-famous event is back with a fresh face
Rutland's first ever Global Birdfair is here, with thousands of visitors and exhibitors from all over the world coming to gather at the County Showground.
There was a huge disappointment from the local and international birding community when the original event was unable to carry on last year.
But, thanks to the efforts of Tim Appleton MBE and Penny Robinson - the inaugural Global Birdfair opened its doors yesterday and it's already off to a great success.
One of the founding members of the original Birdfair in 1989, Tim said he was proud to launch the new-look event:
"All over the world we've got people coming and talking abut nature conservation, in many different ways. They're talking about wildlife holidays, about how you can support communities in really remote parts of the world."
"It's about feeding the birds in your own garden, it's about learning about birds, we have lectures and all sorts of things like that. It's very much focused on nature because after the pandemic there's of course a lot more people interested in nature conservation."
An international networking hot-spot
We caught up with plenty of bird-spotters, tourists, locals and exhibitors to see what they thought about the return of the iconic Rutland event:
Jeff, who flew from Florida, said: "The Birdfair has always been the pre-ultimate event and we knew with the new event coming on, with Tim at the helm, that this was going to be a fantastic opportunity and I wouldn't miss it for the world.'
Mark, who took a boat trip from the Netherlands, said: "It's super fun, this is like a bubble of like-minded people. It's like a melting pot of ideas and corporations and conservation."
Robert Kirk, who also came from America, said: 'It's so wonderful to see people again. First one in three years and we've all missed it hugely I think, and you can tell it's just a great event. There's nothing like it anywhere else in the world.'
'It's easier to see someone that you want to talk to from Brazil, in Oakham, than it is in Brazil - it's that kind of thing where it's like: "Oh, they're going to the Birdfair, I'll see them there!".