Want to win tickets to Countryfile Live?

[Chris_K]

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Competition now closed. 

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Hey guys,



We've got an amazing competition for you this week, but first, let us tell you a little about Countryfile Live and why it's an incredible day out for the family.

What is Countryfile Live?
Representing the best of the British countryside across four days, Countryfile Live is guaranteed to be one of this summer’s best days out. You can meet all your favourite BBC Countryfile heroes on The Main Stage; Be entertained by Mountain Biking and Shetlands in the Mane Arena; Get back to nature with the National Trust; And see your favourite TV chefs live at the Le Creuset Kitchen Theatre at Countryfile Live.

When is it?
This year is bigger and better than ever, because for the first time ever, Countryfile Live will also be heading to Castle Howard. So, there's now two weekends packed full of excitement.

Blenheim Palace: 1-4 August
Castle Howard: 15-18 August

Why is O2 there?
We're here to meet our customers, share with them our latest plans - such as the recent announcement of the industry proposal of a Shared Rural Network - and help them out with anything they need. We'll also have some treats with us, exclusively for customers with the O2 Priority app, just to make the day even more epic. As many who attend Countryfile Live live in rural communities, here's just some of what we'll focus on:

• Improved coverage in the Highlands and Islands, including having installed 85 generators, which will ensure that our rural customers can enjoy uninterrupted service, even when the power goes down due to inclement weather. On average, this saves our customers 250 hours of connectivity, that would have otherwise been lost.
• We're investing in rural Britain. From the Shetland Islands, where our coverage has more than doubled in the last two years; to the Fair Isle, where broadband speeds have been historically poor, but 4G has revolutionised connectivity for the residents. We also now have a mast on Saxa Vord, the most Northerly site on our network.
• We're backing a proposal for a Shared Rural Network (SRN). If implemented and supported by the industry, Government and Ofcom, the SRN would increase all-operator geographic coverage from the current level of 67% to 92%, with partial not-spots almost disappearing. More info here.
• We’ve constructed our first 4G 50 metre mast near Inverness. The height of the mast has significantly improved the range and performance of 4G connectivity for customers in the area and provides a blueprint for others.

TICKET GIVEAWAY!!!
So here's the really really good bit. We've got 4 x Family tickets up for grabs and you choose which day and event/location you want to go to - whether it's this Saturday or Sunday at Blenheim Palace, or any day (Thursday to Sunday) at Castle Howard.

All you need to do to enter is comment below and tell us which day & event you'd attend and why you want to go to Countryfile Live. We'll choose winners at random and PM you to get some details.

Competition closes 4PM Wednesday 31 July 2019. Usual competition T&C's apply. 

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Competition now closed. 

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[Countryfile]

Sunday Blenheim.  Would love to take my mum we have had a very bad few years after loosing my dad and my neice of 25 having cancer.  She would love the theatre and all the stalls. It would be great to escape for a few hours as money is tight.  It would make her extremely happy (and me!)

[AlanLewis]

Would love to attend Countryfile for the first time ever with my wife, we have missed out on free tickets in previous years and would love to go, the event looks amazing ! We live nearby and tomorrow is my birthday so it would be great if i was lucky enough to win ! Blenheim palace either tomorrow or Saturday would love to attend this great event

[AlanLewis]

Just realised it’s only Saturday or Sunday to win - silly me ! Saturday would be great !

[Herp]

I would love to take my niece and nephew off my older sister and give her some respite, and take my mum for a wonderful day out, spent with her grandkids too!

Blenhiem would be my preference.

Friday if it were available - Saturday if not!

Thanks O2

[Martin-O2]

Hey everyone, 

This competition is now closed! We'll select the winners at random and contact them via private message to let them know and confirm attendance. We'll update the thread with the winners once everyone has accepted. 

[jonsie]

Good luck everyone

[PhoneChanger]

Good luck to all who entered...

[gmarkj]

Thanks to the lovely community team, this weekend we went here (sorry for the random people in front of the sign - my wife said I had to...):

It was warm. Too warm if I am honest, and so we didn't get all the way round - it is MASSIVE and it was really good.

Driving up to the actual show, hosted in the lovely grounds of Blenheim Palace, we got treated to a lovely view of the main "house" and the bridge leading up to it (apologies for the quality - these were taken in the car while queued up!)

One of the first things we found was the lovely o2 stand where I got beat at the online safety quiz (I was taking it easy, honest!), then won a goody bag and chocolate bar and finally had a much needed ice cream...

    

Walking further down we found the Woodland Trust, where we (well, the random child that we followed round all day **) built a mini bug hotel and got given a couple of trees to plant in our back garden (that I managed to not take a picture of...). 

  

**Not random at all, in fact is my daughter/monster (delete according to behaviour).

She also managed to sneak into a nest and look after some eggs for a little while...

We then took a stroll through the wildlife section, and had a chat with the people at the butterfly conservation stand, the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) and Hugh Warwick about HedgeOx and helping our Hedgehogs.

Crossing over a very wobbly bridge, and annoying some people pretending to fish, we walked through the farming section and saw (in no particular order) some baby chickens, helped feed a calf some milk, stroked a piglet and held a chicken.

We had a ride on a ferris wheel and took the next few pictures to show the size of the event:

After getting our land legs back, we had a quick walk through the food section which smelt and looked delicious.

Shortly after this we decided we had covered enough ground and slowly made our way back to the car.

Did we see everything there? No.

Could you see everything in one day? Unless you went round very quickly and didn't stop at any stalls then maybe - but what would the point of that be?

If I am honest you could easily spend 2 days here and you still wouldn't see everything!

Other points to note: the show had an app that (it seems) o2 helped to create and power that was really useful to see where you were on the site and what was coming up. My only criticisms would be that pressing back does not get you out of the app, and the map page is not interactive (you have to open the menu then select either stalls or events to see what is happening).

All of the people we talked to at each of the stalls was very nice and couldn't be more friendly or helpful. They put up with a very enthusiastic 7 year old telling them all she knew about whatever topic their stand was about and being very excited about it all.

The site was very clean and you can tell everyone there was making sure to look after it - there was no rubbish being dropped, people were putting any rubbish into a bin or recycling point and clearing up after themselves.

Dogs were everywhere, as were the water points for them. One of the best things we saw was a spaniel deciding he wanted a dip in the water trough instead of a drink and having a lie down! Did this cause any problems for others? Possibly. Did anyone get upset about it? Not at all.

We also saw lots of people with the buggy/cart things, carrying picnics, show merch or children and older dogs so that they didn't miss out! Again everyone was very understanding and did not get upset that people had these with them - the atmosphere was fantastic all day.

Would we go again? Without a doubt!

So thanks again to o2 for the opportunity to go, and I hope that anyone that got tickets enjoyed it and for those going to the Castle Howard have a great time too! (Make sure you take plenty of drinks and either a picnic or remortgage your house before going - the food is not cheap!)

[EmilieT]

It looks like a lot of fun @gmarkj, thanks for all the photos and details on how the day went! It seems your daughter had an especially great time, love the nest picture  

[Cleoriff]

It all sounds absolutely brilliant @gmarkj.

Thanks for posting pictures.  I had no idea it would be that big.