New thrills and big crowds expected at Royal Adelaide Show 2022
After a two-year break, the Royal Adelaide Show is back and nearly half a million South Australians are expected to attend. We sent some brave teenagers up to try some scary rides.
Lifestyle
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Nearly half a million South Australians will attend the Royal Adelaide Show as the beloved exhibition returns after a hiatus of 1091 days.
Showgoers can expect four new rides, thousands of farm animals, a plethora of showbags and fluffy pink cowboy hats to be the rage this year.
An expected 450,000 people will head through the gates as early ticket sale indications are tracking ahead of the last show in 2019 and will inject about $170m into the state’s economy.
This year the Royal Adelaide Show have something for everyone, with 49 attractions that vary between extreme, gentle and family-friendly rides.
Tiana Shaefer, 13, and Ava Nusbajtel, 12, took the rides on the wild side and tested some of the most popular and scariest rides for The Advertiser.
Ali Baba, height limit 120cm
Flying thrill ride, Ali Baba showcases stunning views from 20m the air.
The Advertiser’s brave reviewers, Tiana and Ava, loved the adrenaline rush and rated the ride a solid 10 out of 10.
“When it stops at the top it’s a bit scary but you get used to it,” Ava said.
“The few first drops were scary.”
Both girls would recommend the stomach-dropping ride.
“(You get a great view) just don’t look at the top of the ride,” Tiana said.
Battle Toyale
The new interactive game immerses show goers through a huge screen through a series of competitive mini games.
Tiana loved the game, rating it a 10/10 because she won the mini games.
Ava wasn’t as enthusiastic, giving the new attraction a 7.5/10.
“I preferred Ali Baba because of the adrenaline, but this was nice to play against my friends,” Ava said.
“It was fun. I’m coming back to play tomorrow.”
Space Roller, min height 140cm
Our reviewers couldn’t handle the intensity level of Space Roller, which has an instant acceleration of 4Gs.
Tiana requested the ride to be stopped early and said she would recommend for older thrillseekers, rating it for her a 3/10.
“I could feel my shoulders hit the back of the chair and I hated being upside down,” she said.
“I hadn’t seen at work before so I had no idea what to expect.”
Ava rated the spinning ride a 4.5/10 and would recommend for the brave-hearted.
But our reviewers are tempted to try the ride in coming years when they’re a bit older.
Extreme Thriller, min height 140cm
The pendulum ride, that pushes the boundaries and looks deceivingly close, isn’t for people who get dizzy.
The young reviewers rated the extreme ride 10 out of 10.
“It’s a bit scary when your doing down, but when you’re facing the front it looks like you’re going to hit the ground,” Tiana said.
“I didn’t really feel my stomach drop as much this time because I knew what to expect.”
“It’s a 10 out of 10, it was so much fun,” Ava said. “It was quite scary.”
Hot competition
The show’s general manager Michelle Hocking anticipates a strong turnout as there were more than 25,000 competition entries to the show.
“We’ve got a wonderful display of all of the competitions, including the horticulture, the cakes, all of livestock are here as well and also pets,” she said.
“(There’s) a wonderful carnival atmosphere with a full contingent of rides and showbags, all the favourites that the South Australian public love and expect.”
The serious gamer will enjoy new attraction Battle Toyale, according to the show’s marketing manager, Jordan Philp.
“It’s the largest LED screen in Australia, we expect to have really fierce competitions on there,” she said.
Hats on
South Australians will stand out in pink as fluffy cowboy hats will be the new trend at the show this year.
“I was walking past a stall that had piles and piles and piles of the pink hat,” Ms Philp said.
“They were everywhere at Sydney and Brisbane, we think that’s gonna be the big thing.”
Live music will also make a return for the first time in 20 years, after the show received a $500,000 grant from the state government.
“The entertainment programs, probably looking to be one of the best that we’ve ever had,” Ms Philp said.
“We’ve got four new stages, which will feature 100 per cent of South Australian artists in live music.”
Measures have been put in place protect the livestock from foot and mouth disease, despite the fact the disease is not in Australia.
Patrons will step on to citric acid mats as they enter the grounds, and boot cleaning stations will be around the livestock pavilions.
General manager Michelle Hocking said it’s an “opportunity to demonstrate excellent biosecurity measures”.
“Being the biggest agricultural show in the state, we’re using this as an opportunity to demonstrate excellent biosecurity measures,” she said.
“We ask that people attend the show with clean clothes, clean shoes, and unless they’re in a petting centre like the animal nursery, or the learning centre that they refrain from actually touching the animals.
“If you’ve travelled overseas of course you can attend the show, but we ask you not to visit the livestock pavilions.”
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