Fears for Gold Coast Show’s future with plans for a rival event to be held the same weekend

A SIDESHOW row has turned into the main event, with a split between Gold Coast carnies threatening the future of the city’s 110-year old annual show.

Gold Coast Show will be held at the Gold Coast Turf Club. Picture: Scott Fletcher

A SIDESHOW row has turned into the main event, with a split between Gold Coast carnies threatening the future of the city’s 110-year-old annual show.

So bad is the bitter feud that a breakaway group from the Yatala-based Showmen’s Guild of Australasia is now trying to set up a rival show at Helensvale on the same weekend as the Gold Coast Show at Bundall.

The show is scheduled for three days from August 26 with some Gold Coast Show Society stalwarts fearing it may well be the last.

The split came after the Showmen’s Guild fell out with the society. The society ousted the guild and signed a contract with a Willowbank-based company, Kay Dee Promotions, to provide rides for this year’s event.

Gold Coasters are getting ready for another big show. Picture: Scott Fletcher

Disgruntled sideshow operators then applied to the city council to run a rival event with Westfield Helensvale shopping centre on the same weekend and their application is now being considered.

Former long-serving show boss Doug Reiser said the rival event would deliver a “body blow” to the traditional event and could see its demise by 2018, or even sooner.

Gold Coast Show Society’s Doug Reiser. Picture: Regi Varghese

“This could deal a body blow to the show and I told (the show society) at the last AGM that the way things were heading that they would find themselves in a situation where they could not continue on, at the very most within two years,” he said.

“It may come sooner than that – it could be this year.”

Show society president Sydney ‘Slim’ Boese blamed the Showmen’s Guild for the rift, saying negotiations had dragged on for too long, prompting the board to look for other contractors.

“We gave them every chance to put a contract in front of us and they didn’t do it,” he said. “I signed the contract (with Kay Dee) about two weeks ago.

Gold Coast History: Aerial at the Gold Coast Show in 1992.

“The show was getting closer and closer every day. They just can’t come in and take over the place and put their rides wherever they want.”

However Showmen’s Guild president George Pink said he believed the show society had wanted to replace the guild for a long time and picked a fight to oust the coalition of ride and stall operators.

“We spent four years trying to get sideshow alley to work properly,” he said.

“Then they moved us with less space and they kept wanting meetings when we couldn’t get there – it was just things like that, pretty silly.

Colour at the Gold Coast Show. Picture: Tim Marsden

“I believe the other contractor had the contract for months and they were only playing games with us.

“A few showmen got together to run something to feed their families. They can’t just sit down and not work.”

Michael Thomas from new private contractor Kay Dee Promotions will provide 27 rides, 12 vendors and 20 activities or games at the Gold Coast Show from August 26-28.

This compared to the guild manning 25-30 major rides, 20 small children’s rides, 15 food stalls and 35-40 games.