The annual and hotly anticipated Countryfile Calendar Photographic Competition is back, and this year’s theme is Signs of the Seasons.
Every year, Countryfile opens its photographic competition to budding photographers across the UK to submit their best wildlife, landscape and nature shots.
The competition regularly generates tens of thousands of entries, as amateur snappers across the land send in their best photographs for consideration. Images can be from any part of the country – city, country, coast, farmland, woodland, hills or valleys.
This year’s Signs of the Seasons theme invites images that capture the character of the UK in spring, summer, autumn and winter – whether the look of the landscape at that time of year, or seasonal flora and fauna in their full glory.
The winning images features in the wildly popular Countryfile Calendar, which garners huge sales every year. Last year the calendar cost £11.99, including UK delivery. A minimum of £5.50 from the sale of each calendar goes to BBC Children in Need, a longstanding tradition of donation that has seen more than £35 million raised for the charity since 1998.
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How does the competition work?
Photographers submit their pictures, and from the entries received, an expert panel of judges select the 12 photos to feature in the 2027 calendar. The judging panel is often headed by Countryfile's John Craven, who is usually joined by two guest judges.
These 12 entries are then voted on by the public, who choose an overall winning photograph. This triumphant image graces the cover of the calendar, and the photographer receives a gift card worth £1,000, which can be spent on photographic equipment.
The judges also vote for their favourite photo of the 12, and their chosen photographer wins a £500 gift card for photographic equipment.
Last year, the winning image of both the public vote and judges vote was ‘Aurora Arbor-ealis' by John Rae. This extraordinary photograph of a tree silhouetted against glowing green northern lights appeared on the cover of the 2026 Countryfile Calendar.
How to enter
The competition launched on 28 June and will be open until 10am on Monday 27 July 2026. Entries must be uploaded to the website by the closing date. Enter here.
The competition isn’t open to professional photographers, and to ensure that only original images appear in the calendar, the pictures entered must not have won any other national or international competition. Further, the competition celebrates wild and natural settings, so snaps of pets, zoo animals or wild animals in captivity are not eligible.
