It was a day of smiles, sunshine and showcasing the very best the district's farming community has to offer at this year's Wallamba and District Agricultural and Horticultural Show.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
More commonly known as the Nabiac show, the 108th event enjoyed near record crowds and beef cattle parading around the show ring, along with free rides for the kids and a successful dog show.
While this year's Sydney Royal Easter Show has been cancelled due to the coronavirus, competitors and exhibitors participating in the many events were vying for the right to compete at the 2021 show.
"We could be one of the last rural shows for some time," secretary Sally Henderson said.
There was great interest in the beef cattle ring with the second largest line-up of entries in the show's 108-year history, Ms Henderson said.
Fifty one cattle were paraded before the judge, while 55 students from three schools in both the Gloucester and Taree areas competed in junior judging and paraders competitions.
The rain, which earlier this year helped break the back of the long dry spell, saw record produce entries across the pavilions.
"When we had the rain everyone made a big effort to get entries in," Ms Henderson said.
"People got recharged with the rain."
Ms Henderson said show-day began quietly before ramping up with lots of people enjoying the fun.
"There was a great vibe," she said.
She said a couple of light showers did little to dampen the enthusiasm showgoers enjoyed.
The $5000 State government Drought Relief Support grant, which was put towards the free giant rock climbing wall and three-way bungee ride, was a stunning success, Ms Henderson said.
She said the ride operators has great interaction with the hundreds of youngsters who took advantage of the free recreational attraction.
Renowned for holding one of the largest and successful dog shows outside the Sydney Royal, this year's event did not disappoint with more than 335 pooches of all shapes and sizes parading around the judging ring.
Paisley the kelpie cleared a two metre high hurdle to take out the dog high jump event.
In the three years since the popular event was introduced this was the highest a dog had jumped.
"We almost ran out of planks for the dogs to jump over."
Ms Henderson believed the ongoing success of Nabiac show was it continued to be run over one day.
We try to offer as much as we can over one day for everyone, she said.
Stay ahead with local news by signing up for the Great Lakes Advocate newsletter here.
