Okehampton Show — due to take place tomorrow (Thursday) — has been cancelled for the second year running.
The decision, made as the Times was about to go to press yesterday, came after two days of solid and often torrential rain in the town.
Organisers inspected the show ground and, as conditions severely deteriorated, had no choice but to cancel because of health and safety fears.
Show secretary Gilly Oliver said: 'We're absolutely devastated.
'The conditions are dire. We're deeply worried about parking and from a health and safety point of view we don't have any other option.'
Okehampton mayor Kay Bickley extended her utmost sympathy to the show's organisers: 'It's a huge disappointment but with the weather as bad as this what else could they do? We'd just be wading through mud.
'I real feel for the exhibitors and for all the effort that Gilly and the committee have put in.'
Derek Webber, this year's show president, said he was 'absolutely gutted' that for the second year running the event had to be cancelled.
He said: 'It's like a quagmire up here — I've never seen anything like it — it's not just the car park but the show fields themselves. It's still raining here and I am convinced that the decision to cancel the show is the right one in the interests of safety.'
Conditions were so bad on yesterday that Mr Webber had to have his van pulled out by tractor. His vehicle was not the only one — even the car park organisers inspecting the surface got stuck.
'If we had sunshine between now and Saturday it would still not be dry. The whole area is just waterlogged.
'It's a real shame,' he said.