FROM static engines to a veteran Spitfire, this weekend’s Kington Vintage Show will be revving up a gear to mark this year’s quarter century in style.

Still steaming with success 25 years on, the popular two-day event promises a bumper show over the weekend. As well as the familiar sounds of engines large and small from a bygone age, visitors will be entertained with a special fly-past by an iconic Spitfire, a hero of the Second World War, not to mention at ground level the unusual spectacle of pig racing.

Adding to the air of nostalgia at this year’s anniversary event, there will be a photographic display recounting the show’s progress over the years, and this summer’s return of a vintage threshing box, once a familiar sight at harvest time when it was used to separate the grain from the chaff, is certain to delight those with a passion for the past.

The Grand Parade, led by the motorbiking Hospice Angels, will make its way through the town to the Recreation Ground, and on the Saturday only, all eyes will be on a lone Spitfire flying over Kington to salute this special year.

On the ‘Rec’ itself, the atmosphere will be crackling with excitement as Joseph’s Amazing Racing Pigs, rare breeds ranging from Tamworths to Gloucester Old Spots from Warwickshire, hurl themselves over hurdles in their haste to reach a bucket of food. The enterprise states that it takes the welfare of its six pigs “very seriously”.

While show organisers look to the past for their popular show, they are also eyeing the future and hoping to recruit more members to support an event that is held in deep affection both locally and across the country.

Every year thousands turn up for a show which promises an abundance of nostalgia. There will be a wide array of vintage vehicles and more than 200 classic cars, as well as more than 60 old tractors, motorbikes, pushbikes, stationary engines and static displays. There will be a tea tent, bar and car boot sale and firefighters will be demonstrating a crash simulator.

The first show required a small part of the Recreation Ground, but as popularity has grown, it now occupies the entire site.