Royal Adelaide Show punters pay between $25 and $50 for prime parking, as 50,000 flood through gates on day one

Tens of thousands of people have spent the first day of the Show in beautiful sunshine, with a key change becoming clear this year.

Crowds arriving early for the first day of the Royal Adelaide Show, with queues ahead of the 9am official opening. Picture: Dean Martin

• The showbag tipped to sell out first at this year’s Show

More than 50,000 people attended the first day of the Royal Adelaide Show on Saturday, and while crowd numbers are on par with last year, showgoers are spending more time – five to seven hours – browsing the attractions this year.

The Say family – Luke, 45, his wife Julie Kitto, 48, and children Holly, 13, Reef, 12, Scarlet and Taj, both 9 – from Athelstone celebrated Father’s Day early at the show.

“It’s great, it’s perfect, I’m really enjoying it and it’s the best day for it with the sunshine,” Mr Say said.

“It’s a day that we just unplug from the routine of everything else and spending time together as a family is really amazing.”

The family has been to the show “each year without fail” and arrived early on Saturday to be there when gates opened at 9am.

“We drove in nice and early and hung around for a bit then went for a walk through the beautiful leafy suburbs,” Mr Say said.

Crowds arriving early for the first day of the show. Picture Dean Martin

“We were in the line-up ready to pour into the gates at nine o’clock and have been having fun ever since,”

The family enjoyed “a mix of everything” with the chocolate showbags being a big hit among the kids.

Luke Say and daughter Scarlet, 9, of Athelstone enjoy a day out in the sun at the Royal Adelaide Show, 2023. Picture: Brett Hartwig

“We’ve enjoyed seeing the animals, the rides, of course getting showbags for the kids, loads and loads of chocolate which I’m not looking forward to them eating but that’s just part of the fun,” Mr Say said.

“I also had to buy a couple Bertie Beetle bags for myself too, that’s just tradition.”

On the other side of the Adelaide Showgrounds gate, the Munro-Perry family were selling parking spaces in their Devon Street North driveway for $30 with all funds going towards Opportunity International Australia.

The not-for-profit provides small business loans and health, education and safety initiatives to women in developing countries across Asia.

Brothers Angus, 14, and David, 16, advertise and sell the parking spaces outside the home with dad, Anthony Perry, 51, helping move the cars.

David and Anthony Perry and Kirsty Munro offer parking space at their home near the Showgrounds to raise money for a charity. Picture: Dean Martin

“We have five car parks available in our driveway which my younger brother and I sell while my father moves the cars, shuffling them around the street,” David said.

“People generally stay for 4-6 hours and we’ve got a few people in the driveway already and we’ve had to reserve some car parks for people who have been with us before,” mum Kirsty Munro, 47, said.

The family is ambassadors for Opportunity International Australia and raise between $1800 and $2000 each year during the show period.

“We earn money for them in a number of different ways such as this,” Ms Munro said.

“When people pay $30 for a parking space with us, that $30 will help at least seven different families with their loan cycles and that’s really powerful.

“We’re just hoping that we can get a decent amount of traffic throughout showtime and aiming for about $2000 again this year.”

In pictures: Show fun in the sun on opening day

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The Munro-Perry family has raised more than $43,000 since 2014 through various fundraising events, including curry and Malaysian noodle nights, jam sales and Airbnb accommodation.

Make a donation to their fundraising here.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of eager showgoers lined up at the gates, which is expected to be a sellout for the first time in its 184-year history.

Gates opened at 9am with some families queuing from 7.30am to secure prime parking costing between $25 and $50 per car along Rose Terrace.

Jessica Edmunds, 25, woke up at 6.30am to make the drive down from Seaford Meadows with two-year-old son, Bentley, and partner, Kieran Tansell, and paid $50 for parking across the road from the show grounds.

“We’re just across the road, nice and close, especially with a toddler, but I was only expecting $15-$20 bucks not $50 – they’re buying the next mansion with that price for sure,” Ms Edmunds said.

Jessica Edmunds, Kieran Tansell and son Bentley, 2, Picture: Dean Martin

Despite the high cost of parking, Ms Edmunds said she looked forward to making the most of the day’s “lovely sunshine” and enjoy her son’s first outing at the show.

“Even though it’s expensive, you can’t put a price on your kid’s smile,” she said.

“When you go to the show, you’re already going to be paying a lot so you just need to do what you can and use your budget.”

Nicole Walters, 30, from Adelaide, had a 6am start to make sure her family was ready to go and get a parking space nearby.

Ms Walters paid $25 for all-day parking around the corner from Rose Terrace to be “right near” the showground.

“It’s a little more money than across the oval but at least we’re closer because we’ll do the showbags first, go back to the car to drop them off, and then come back and enjoy the day without having to carry heavy loads,” she said.

Nicole Walters with partner Lee Thompson and 10-month-old daughter Adeline, with Blaze, 7, Mahalia, Seth, 8, Olivia, Leigh Walters, and Dimitri, 12. Picture: Dean Martin

Ms Walters has attended the show each year since she was born and is keeping the tradition alive with 10-month-old daughter, Adeline.

Ms Walter also met up with family who had travelled down from Mt Gambier and Hamilton to join them at the show this year.

“We all meet at the front gate and meet an hour beforehand to catch-up before we get separated inside because half of them I haven’t seen in over a year,” she said.

“We started coming the first year Nicole was born and have been coming ever since and some of us live in Mount Gambier and Hamilton now so we come down for the weekend,” Ms Walter’s mum, Leigh, 49, said.