It’s Show Time!

Roll up Roll up - It’s show time!

A sense of burgeoning freedom was palpable when I visited
the Royal Easter Show at Homebush last week. 
Whilst Covid still lurks, citizens appear to have learnt
to live with it.  Some simply leaving their masks at home, others remaining cautious amidst large crowds and masked up.

On a bright and crisp autumn day I enjoyed capturing the  judging of angora goats,  the most amazing variety of poultry, brilliant horsemanship (Kate Clancy), and the incredible skills of Murray Wilkinson and his cattle dogs.  https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2022-04-14/working-dog-whistling-demonstration-royal-easter-show/100974540?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=mail&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web  

Then there was the spectacular Wood Chop with brawny competitors slugging it out.  All amidst a colourful carnival of performers,
funfair stalls, merry-go-rounds and endless flab-inducing fast food outlets.

The Royal Agricultural Society was founded 200 years ago on 5
July, 1822 by the new colony’s most prominent citizens.  There was a need to improve the quality of
agricultural produce in the colony, to promote better farming practices and to
fund and organise the import of pure-bred sheep, cattle, and horses.  The first RAS show was held in 1824.  The show had a display of 80-head of bloodstock,
stallions, hacks and ponies, 130 head of cattle, 42 pens of sheep, a few pigs,
dogs and a motley collection of poultry – today more than 6000 animals attend
the show.

It felt special to attend this spectacular show after two long years of social distancing and a drought of face to face events.