Over 100,000 visitors, many from abroad, will attend the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show which opens today and continues for the rest of the week.
The 132nd show is being sponsored by the Irish tourist board. It will be officially opened by Lord Mayor of Dublin Catherine Byrne.
Ms Byrne will make her way to the grounds in the famous lord mayor's coach for the opening at noon today.
For show supporters there is little change in the annual event which will see more than 1,350 horses and ponies taking part in 36 competitions.
Top of the showjumping lovers events will be Friday's international competition for the Samsung Super League Nation's Cup for the Aga Khan Trophy and the €120,000 prize-fund.
Teams from Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the US and Ireland will compete in the event which Ireland won last year.
Insiders are saying the controversy which has surrounded the inclusion of Cian O'Connor in the team will make a successive Irish win less likely.
One major change to this normally static event will be the transferral of the RDS Crafts and Student Art Winners Exhibition to the RDS Concert Hall during the show.
This prestigious event usually takes place in one of the main halls of the RDS, but this year commercial stands will replace the craft section.
A record number of trade stands, 311, will now fill the halls with a wide range of consumer goods, fashion wear, millinery, equestrian clothing, tack, wines and confectionery .
With trade exhibitors travelling from Germany, Italy, France, Austria, Canada and the US to display their wares, the RDS has claimed this will greatly enhance the range of goods on sale.
The commercial stands will feature an extensive antiques and art section offering a wide range of antiques including furniture, silverware, paintings, prints and collectibles.
For those less interested in the horses and the many showing and jumping competitions, daily entertainment is being provided by a number of bands.
The Kids Zone is set to be a hive of activity with pony rides and a children's multi-activity inflatable area which will be open from 1.00pm to 5.00pm each day and will include a space bouncer, an inflatable slide and a monster truck.
Tomorrow at the show will see the ladies stride out before the judges to show off their dress sense. The winner will leave with a glittering €10,000 Appleby Diamond.
On Sunday as a new addition, there will be a display of miniature horses also known as falabellas.
These tiny horses range in height from 26 inches to 37 inches.
They look like miniaturised horses, not ponies, and in a photograph it would be difficult to tell them apart from an Arab or a thoroughbred. Qualifiers were held to find the best miniature horses in Ireland
The horse show opens from 9.00am to 7.00pm daily. Adult admission is €16. Senior citizens, children under-16 and students with an ID card will pay €11.
A family ticket admitting two adults and up to four children under-16 costs €40, while an adult season ticket costs €46.
Tickets for the jumping events in the main arena cost extra.
Jessica Kurten, the Irish international rider, has told UTV she has lost confidence in the Irish equestrian selectors but would not be changing her nationality to ride for any other team.
Kurten, who had been selected to represent Ireland on the Nation's Cup team for next Friday, said it had been reported that she had said she could not ride in the team because of a medical problem with her horses.
This, she said, was information which should not have been made public and since then there had been a lot of "stupidity" in the reports on radio and television.
Speaking from Spain to the Belfast studio, she said she wished the Irish team well and they had her full support.
However, she did not expect to be selected again this year to represent Ireland and had lost confidence in the selectors.