The 2025 Gilten Market will be held at the Royal Isle of Wight County Showground on Monday 1st December, with the stock judging starting at 10am and the sale starting at 12noon.
The Gilten Market is the only market held on the Isle of Wight and is the Christmas primestock show. The Island is the only place in the British Isles that has a Gilten Market. It’s always held a few weeks before Christmas and organised under the patronage of the Island’s High Sheriff. As part of the long-standing tradition, the High Sheriff performs the ceremony of gilding the horns of the winning animal (the Gilten Beast) with gold paint.
Primestock shows are traditionally held at this time of year, to celebrate the best of local produce, with top quality beef cattle and prime lambs for the Isle of Wight consumers to enjoy through the festive season.
The market helps reinforce the important links between Island farmers and butchers, to encourage the public to buy local, and is a focal point for the Island’s rural community.
Event Chairman, Matt Legge said, “Over 40 years since the closure of the Island’s last permanent livestock market, it is great that we are still able to hold the Gilten Market, to celebrate the fantastic standard of livestock that is produced on the Island. We are very excited to be hosted at the new County Showground building, which now provides the event with a new, long-term home. There is a huge amount of work that goes into this type of event, and it would not be possible without the support of our farming community.”
