British Falconry Fair 2026 brings trade, training, and raptors together

The British Falconry Fair opens at the National Centre for Birds of Prey at Duncombe Park in Helmsley for two days of ring events, trade stands and raptor seminars. It runs from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on June 27 and 28, with Mark Naguib MRCVS, the centre’s vet, scheduled to speak on both days.

The fair bills itself as the premier bird of prey event in the UK, and the pitch is broader than a public display. Its stands bring together falconry equipment suppliers, hood makers, telemetry suppliers, leather suppliers, ferreting equipment retailers, braided equipment vendors, raptor charities and wildlife conservation charities. That mix tells you exactly where the community’s priorities sit: in the kit that keeps a hawk secure, flown and found again, but also in the conservation and welfare networks that now sit alongside the sport.

That is why the fair reads like an annual checkpoint for the British falconry world rather than a simple weekend show. UNESCO says falconry has been practiced for more than 4,000 years and now also works as a recreational practice and a way of connecting with nature. UNESCO’s inscription also notes the support sectors around it, including breeding centres, conservation agencies and traditional equipment makers, which is exactly the ecosystem this fair puts under one roof. The British Falconers’ Club, founded in 1927, says it is the oldest falconry club in the UK and has around 900 members. The International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey represents 120 member organizations across 90 countries.

Duncombe Park gives the fair its own weight. The estate covers 450 acres of landscape gardens and parkland in the North York Moors National Park, and falconry there dates to 1863, when the Hon. Cecil Duncombe began spring rook hawking. The following year, the Old Hawking Club formed with seven members and lasted about 62 years. The modern National Centre for Birds of Prey opened in 2013 under Charlie Heap, and it says it is home to the largest collection of birds of prey in the UK.

The weekend format is built for the crowd it draws. Saturday brings a barbecue and a late bar, prebooking is required, spaces are limited and dogs are not permitted because the fair is held inside the National Centre. Free parking is available nearby in Helmsley, which keeps the focus where it belongs: on the birds, the gear and the people who still build a whole season around them.