One of the highlights of the year is the Royal Geelong Show where the country meets the city right here in Geelong. Dating back to 1855 the show began at a site near Eastern Park and after a number of moves it settled at its current location at Breakwater in 1954.
The Geelong Show is held over four days, Thursday through to Sunday and is regarded as Australia’s biggest four day agricultural show, bringing together the finest animals from the region, huge carnival rides, show bags and fun for the whole family. The show has huge pavilions for sheep where visitors can even see shearing, a sight not often seen in the city these days. With the region around Geelong having some of the world’s best wool the competition is fierce and a blue ribbon is the ultimate in sheep breeding. The cattle pavilion is a chance for people to see some of the magnificent dairy and beef stock from the region. Horses are another crowd favourite and many equestrian competitions are conducted on the grand arena.
Over the last few years some of the more unusual animals have found their way to the Geelong Show, now goats, alpacas, miniature horses and even ferrets and rats come to compete.
The north western corner of the showground is home to the dogs, where dozens of breeds battle it out for awards. The poultry shed is always a noisy experience where you will find everything that chirps, clucks, quacks and gobbles. There are chickens, geese, ducks, giant turkeys the lot, this pavilion is much loved by the young. The animal nursery is also a favourite where there are dozens of types of baby animals with their mothers on display.
Art and craft and some tasty cooking is also a popular display. The show is also home to a huge trade expo where many of the town’s businesses including a large rural and agriculture base show their latest products.
The huge grand arena is home to competition and entertainment all through the day, there are horse events, tractor pulls, the grand parade, precision driving and stunt teams. Hours of entertainment can be had from sitting in the grandstand watching on.
The western side of the show grounds is home to the carnival, show bags and the amazing rides. Each year they get more exotic and more thrilling and certainly stomach churning. The area is a huge hit with the youth on Friday and Saturday nights during the show.
The show grounds is also home to an amazing historic collection of steam machinery. In addition to regular rallies throughout the year, the Geelong Show is a fantastic opportunity for them to be started up and awe the huge crowds with their monstrous metal machines.
Dusk sees the huge carnival rides glow with their lightshows and the traditional fireworks display that attracts thousands of spectators, capping off a wonderful display. And no trip home is complete without a hand full of show bags and there is such a choice, from the Bertie Beetle Chocolate bag to the latest superhero or TV star, it’s hard to stop at just one, and you can’t go home without a Dagwood Dog and some fairy floss!
The Royal Geelong Show is held mid-October every year.
