Horsham’s 148th annual show brought more than 6000 people to its two-day event with exhibits from the traditional in the makers’ pavilion, to the novelty of wrestling demonstrations, and monster truck and camel rides.

Horsham Agricultural and Pastoral Show committee member Andrea Cross said the crowd was consistent with that of the past two years.

“We would have had about 1000 people on Saturday night and about 5000 on Sunday – that’s not including the under-fives, as they enter free of charge we don’t record them,” she said.

Mrs Cross said the makers’ pavilion received great feedback.

“It’s really nice to hear, as a lot of work goes into displaying everyone’s crafts, cakes, fruits and flowers,” she said.

“It actually inspired people who haven’t exhibited before to exhibit in the future – since the show, we have been talking about having a ‘cooking with the show’ event in the lead up to next year’s event to give people an idea of what the judges are looking for.

“People’s inspiration has inspired us – we’re feeling really enthusiastic going into next year.”

Wrestlers from Melbourne and Adelaide captivated audiences on Sunday.

“The wrestling was really well-received by all ages, from toddlers to grandparents, it was entertainment of another level,” Mrs Cross said.

“Monster trucks, along with camel rides, were going all day, and we had a bigger variety of food vans than ever before.”

Mrs Cross said the show was a culmination of trialling and testing ideas across the past five years.

“This year was a culmination of the show being on the Maydale Reserve site – this was the final year where we’ve had things where we’ve never had things before, since 2017 every corner of our ground has now been trialled and tested,” she said.

“It’s taken us five years to explore all areas of our grounds, so next year with all the research and development we’ve done, we can make a real highlight heading towards our 150th milestone show.

“The show doesn’t just pop up overnight, it takes weeks of volunteer work to set up and pack up – it takes such a team to pull it all together.

“I think on the whole people were happy, there was plenty to keep them entertained, and it was spread across the grounds.

“It’s certainly one of the best shows we’ve put on, and having someone new in Fiona Tracey in the management role, we had fresh ideas, and in the future we will work well together to perfect Horsham’s longest-running event.”

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