De Utrecht - History

The history of “De Utrecht” The first show was in 1947 and was organised in a cooperation between three kynological associations, Utrecht, Zeist and het Gooi, combined known as UZG. Immediately it was a considerable show, opened by the mayor. No less than 1411 dogs had been registered en such a number for an ordinary international exhibition had not yet been reached in the Netherlands. A short overview of the first years: • 1955 there were 840 registrations for a one-day show • 1958 there were 1001 registrations • 1963 there were 2000 registrations, but 740 had to be rejected because of lack of space. Nonetheless 12.000 visitors • 1964 there were 1134 registrations • 1967 there were 1250 registrations • 1968 there were 1348 registrations In 1970 the contract with Zeist was dissolved, het Gooi allready had dropped out earlier. From that moment on only the URV took care of the organisation and the exhibition was simply called "De Utrecht". The year 1969 was skipped. In 1970, the URV effectively took on the organisation and was decided to have a show that year. The show of 1972 had record of visitors because of an interview on television about the show with NCRV's Tanja Koen, it brought in a visitors number of 13.000. In 1979 the foundation De Utrecht was set up in which the exhibition activities were accommodated. Because of this the association and foundation become financially independant of one another and pressure on the members of the association is decreased. Since 1982 the URV/Foundation has organised an exhibition every two years. Only once it was a one-day show, the rest have all been two-day events. Untill 1994 the show took place in the Jaarbeurs. In 1996 the show was moved to the Veemarkthallen. These halls will be demolished in 2011 and we now are diligently in search of a good replacement. The 2010 exhibiton was a great success and ,although taking leave of the Veemarkthallen was tough, the new venue the home Boxx in nieuweghein opens up new possibilities.