The British Homing World Show of the Year is a two-day event held every January at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool. This year, our 54th Show, the event will attract visitors from every region of the United Kingdom and from all over the world. It is the highlight of the year for pigeon fanciers, who come from all over the UK and Ireland to show their birds, reunite with old friends and make new ones as part of a historic community celebration.

Each year we have trade stands, a charity pigeon auction and raffles as well as the showing and judging of over 1,500 of the top homing pigeons in the UK. We also maintain our links with the Fancy Pigeon community, who again in 2026 will have their own show on the Olympia Balcony.

Last year we continued our recovery from the disruptive effects of both Covid and Avian Influenza, and were again able to welcome both pigeons and visitors with no restrictions. We are delighted with the continued support from trade stands holders and visitors, both of whom showed a significant increase on previous years, once again showing the resilience of the show against circumstances outside of its control.

Due to continued rising costs, the committees have had to make the decision to increase our prices again to reflect the increases we have faced. This has been made more significant due to the Winter Gardens requiring us to charge their Restoration Levy on every ticket sold; the show makes no money out of this levy, the entire amount being retained by the Winter Gardens. We thank you for your understanding of the reasoning for this, and its necessity to ensure the future of the show.

We are very grateful to all who support us in this venture, whether they be sponsors, those donating raffle prizes or pigeons for our auction, competitors, trade stand holders or just attending the show. It rewards the immense amount of work invested by the committee and a dedicated RPRA staff, as well as all of those who give their time freely to make the show the event it is.

The 2026 show marks our 50th year at Blackpool and the Winter Gardens: during that time we have hosted two Olympiads, with a third on the horizon in 2028; we have gathered together the largest collection of Dickin Medals ever displayed at one time, judged over 100,000 pigeons, donated over £2.5 million pounds to charity and provided a focal point for over half a million pigeon fanciers during the closed season.

Yours in sport

David Trippett
Chairman
BHW Show of the Year Committee