Are you ready for the 159th Naracoorte Show?
As gates open on October 14 at the Showgrounds, organisers are promising a jampacked event with many new things to look forward to.
Show publicity officer Catherine Miller said they are expecting more than 2500 people to be part of this year’s show as Covid-19 had forced many shows into a hiatus for a year or two.
Ms Miller said there has been a resurgence of interest in country shows, which was fantastic.
This newspaper [Naracoorte Community News] caught up with Ms Miller, and here’s all you need to know about the show.
The [Naracoorte Community] News: How different is this year’s show going to be from the previous years?
Ms Miller: Across our many competitive sections, we do keep many of our classes the same, and often our entrants may enter the same class, e.g., with their handicraft or a different cake, but we always strive to introduce some new ideas to make our show an even greater showcase of the community’s talents. This year, for the first time, we have a men’s chocolate cake class, which we hope will encourage a few more men to enter our cookery, and we are awarding a prize for the Best School Display for the first time to encourage schools to show off some of the work they have done with their students during the year.
The [Naracoorte Community] News: What are some of the new things the public can expect this year?
Ms Miller: We believe that we have a fantastic line-up of entertainment that offers something for the whole family this year, from the action-packed ALL4FMX motocross team, which will perform plenty of daring stunts on their motorbikes, to Fizzics Education’s Making Science Fun shows demonstrating cool chemical reactions and how liquid nitrogen can change before everyone’s eyes.
We are also excited to have secured strongman Jordan ‘Biggie’ Steffens, who also performed at the recent Royal Adelaide Show. Throughout the day, he will show his immense strength, from pulling a truck to a caber toss, where he will pick up a large tree and throw it, often seen in the Scottish Highland Games. Jordan, who is a former weightlifter, holds a couple of Guinness World Records, including one for pulling a 200-tonne locomotive. Other free entertainment will include Old MacDonalds Travelling Farm, Glitterbug Tattoos, and the chance to listen to country rock duo The Austins, who have a couple of singles that remained hits in the charts for weeks. This year, for the first time, we will be extending our show day beyond the usual 4pm close and encouraging everyone to stay around into the evening with a band from Mount Gambier, Any Other Sunday, and food trucks serving dinner as well as a licenced bar.
The [Naracoorte Community] News: How many exhibitors/trade sites/stalls are we looking at?
Ms Miller: Entries are flowing in for our many competitive sections, and we hope we will again end up with more than 1500 entries in our indoor sections. Most of our competitive sections close on Monday, October 9, so it is a bit difficult yet to know exact numbers, but we hope during the school holidays families will get busy baking and making things for the show. We have a few large local businesses and even some small home-based businesses that have signed up for our trade sites. We will also have a few community groups, including the Naracoorte Motorcycle Club, which will have a display. We would encourage anyone looking to promote their business to consider having a trade site with unpowered sites available from $30.
The [Naracoorte Community] News: In terms of entertainment, what will the public get to see?
Ms Miller: Our entertainment programme is jampacked with things to see and do, but we also hope our showgoers visit the Cartwright Pavilion to see everyone’s fabulous entries, watch some of the beef cattle judging or Young Judges competitions, and make a trip to the poultry and pigeon pavilion. And a show wouldn’t be a show without a sideshow alley, so we know this will again be popular with rides and games for all ages.
The [Naracoorte Community] News: How many people do you expect to pass through the gates of the show this year?
Ms Miller: We know that since Covid forced many shows into a hiatus for a year or two, including Naracoorte Show in 2020, there has been a resurgence of interest in country shows, which is fantastic. Last year, we had a speed shear competition on Friday night, and along with the Saturday show day, we attracted close to 3000 showgoers. We have our fingers crossed for some lovely spring weather on Saturday, October 14, and hope we will have a crowd of more than 2500 adults and children.
The [Naracoorte Community] News: Is it (show) for one day-October 14?
Ms Miller: Yes, our Naracoorte Show is just being held over one day this year, although we have extended our opening hours as I mentioned previously. And after a year off last year, our Horses in Action programme will be making a comeback in 2023, with a dedicated group of volunteers putting their hands up to run the event. This will be held on both Saturday, October 14 and Sunday, October 15 at the Hynam Polocrosse grounds and will include hack events, a Stockman’s Challenge, showjumping, and much more.
The [Naracoorte Community] News: How much does it cost to put on a show of this magnitude?
Ms Miller: We are fortunate to have tremendous backing from our wonderful sponsors, who have enabled us to put on the 159 th show while keeping our admission prices the same as in 2022. I can’t thank them enough for getting behind the show each year and ensuring we can put on this great event to bring the community together and showcase the many talented individuals who live in our area. I also want to recognise our small committee, which has been planning this event for nearly 12 months and has volunteered many hundreds of hours of their time and great ideas to make the 2023 Naracoorte Show happen.
The [Naracoorte Community] News: What is our message to the community?
Ms Miller: We really hope the Naracoorte community gets behind the show, from picking some roses to enter in the flower section to putting in their favourite photo or getting the kids to collect and enter some eggs and then turn out on show day to enjoy a great, affordable day for the whole family. We encourage showgoers to pre-purchase their tickets online through Ticketebo, as these are at a discount to the show day gate price at https://www.ticketebo.com.au – under Naracoorte Pastoral Agricultural Society 159 th Naracoorte Show. The full show schedule and how to enter can be found on our website: https://naracoorteshowgrounds.com.au/naracoorte-show/.
This article appeared in the Naracoorte Community News.
