Well, we didn’t quite make Amsterdam, but my trip over to Holland turned out to be a great distraction from some Society actions I’m working my way through, post April’s AGM.
The Holland Koi Show is staged by the NVN (Nishikigoi Vereniging Nederland), a Society with a similar timeline to ours. Interestingly, there is a fair bit of history between us both, with various BKKS committees supporting the show over the years, and given the similarities.
I travelled out with Liam from World of Nishikigoi; we enjoyed an evening in Nijmegan, staying some 5km from the show ground in Druten (Maas en Waal), it turned into a great weekend.
In terms of the show, there were 80 exhibitor vats, with a show ground layout similar to The National Show; dealers and trades around the outside of the exhibitor vats.
A separate area for food, alongside bonsai, and other more garden and craft related items, staged within a large park (flower park), with other on-site attractions (kids adventure park, etc).
Choosing the right venue is absolutely key to a shows success, given this was the first year since the move away from Arcen, it looks like the NVN got this right. It was fairly wet over the weekend, with the show ground getting a good drenching overnight into Saturday.
The Grand Champion was a voluminous Taniguchi Kohaku at 85cm.
Sunday afternoon we travelled over to Belgium with Domi Johan (Koi Zanmai), for a night out in Bree and a couple of planned pond visits the following day.
Hopefully the below (poor) photo gives you some idea; a big thanks to Kristoff and Jimmy for giving us some time - I don’t know for sure, but World of Nishikigoi may feature these at some point.
Whilst on the subject of shows, I wanted to mention the support provided by Hanna at this year’s 44th National Koi Show.
Fish welfare is at the top of our Show Committee’s agenda, so utilising bench testers, PH probes and reagents from one of the most trusted aquaculture providers makes absolute sense.
As a side, and in case you are wondering, we use a dissolved oxygen meter from LAQUA who are a specialist in this field.
Until next month, stay safe and enjoy the hobby.
Feel free to get in touch via chairman@bkks.co.uk
