Volunteers and members of the Armidale and New England Show Society have been putting the finishing touches to preparations for the 2012 Armidale Show, which begins this Friday, March 2 and concludes on Saturday, March 3.
This year marks the 136th running of the Armidale Show and President of the Armidale and New England Show Society, Peter Simpson, is hoping the recent wet weather stays away this Friday and Saturday so that bumper crowds come along and enjoy what the show has to offer.
“A new exciting part of the show for 2012 is the Canadian Lumberjack Spectacular which will be performing at regular intervals throughout the show,” Mr Simpson said.
“Back this year by popular demand is the pig racing, and we have the whip cracking, all our usual sideshows and rides, a roving insect display, reptile display and our pavilions will be full of wonderful produce and craft for judging.”
According to Mr Simpson, interest in the Armidale Show and participation in the regular judged competitions is still high within the Armidale community.
“Going by the number of entries we have coming in this year, there is still huge appeal for members of the community to have their cake, floral arrangement or produce judged the best in Armidale.
“One of the things we are trying to do this year is to dress up the main pavilion to make it a bit prettier and we have a garden with fish ponds and bonsai being installed.
“I expect the floral and garden section in the pavilion to look amazing.”
Horse events will again be a big part of the show with hacks and pony class events and a horse jumping event organised by the New England Show Jumping Club.
Steer rides will again be on Friday night and across the two days there will be a large programme of cattle events over the road at the Exhibition Centre.
“There have been excellent entries coming in for the cattle events, with over $4000 of sponsorship,” Mr Simpson said.
Shows across regional Australia now have so much competition, with an abundance of entertainment options, however Mr Simpson believes there is still a place for agricultural shows to survive and prosper into the future.
“There is no doubt it can be hard to get people interested enough to get involved in running events during the show.
“We are always short of people for running sections; we would like to see more community involvement, but the shows still definitely have a place.
“All the Agricultural shows around the area are still going quite strong and this is great to see all the old traditions continue.
“A new initiative this year has been to encourage local business to display their products in the Trade Pavilion.
“There will be regular demonstrations throughout the show over in the Trade Pavilion,” he said.
For more information on the schedule of events for the 2012 Armidale Show, visit www.armidaleshow.com.au
There is still time to get your entries in for some of the competitions which close on Thursday so check the website for details.
Mr Simpson would especially like to thank all the volunteers, members of the Armidale Show Society and members of all the local clubs that come along and help make the show a success.
“We are always trying to encourage more people to get involved, especially the younger ones,” he said.
“They are going to be the future – without them we won’t have anyone to run the show in the next 20 years.”
“One example of a section getting young people involved is the cattle section.
“They have a really good group of young people that help out, get sponsorship and help run the events.”
Friday, March 2 and Saturday, March 3, gates open at 7am and close at 10pm. The official opening of the Armidale Show will be on Saturday night at 6pm followed by the Fireworks display at 8.30pm. At 9pm there will be entertainment with a Battle of the Bands competition with $1000 prize money.
On Saturday night at 9pm will be the Demolition Derby in the main arena.
Story: Jo Harrison
