Last-minute preparations for first day of Royal Hobart Show
Preparations for the first day of the Royal Hobart Show are looking pretty golden for Wilby and Jeannie, who are both primed and ready for three days of fun ahead. Find out what’s on:
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Last-minute preparations for this year’s Royal Hobart Show are looking pretty golden, especially for Pet Parade ambassador golden retriever Wilby.
Wilby was only too eager to show off his paw-fect strut inside the Petstock Life on the Farm tent, alongside Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania CEO Scott Gadd.
“Year after year, the show inspires as an artistic, creative, agricultural, and heritage platform for the best our community can produce,” he said.
“Entries in most of our competitive sections are up, for instance, the three day wood chopping competition has attracted 517 entries compared to 380 last year.
“Wood chopping is a quintessential Tasmanian sport going back to the earliest years of European settlement.”
Dog judging for pups like Wilby begins on Thursday, with nearly 400 dogs, covering
109 different breeds from all over Australia competing under the watchful eyes of renowned
International Brazil judge Daniel Ceres Rubio.
Mr Gadd said live entertainment was “absolutely world class” for this year’s show.
“The Society is excited to be bringing the Bluey Live Interactive Experience to the Show to
entertain Tasmanian fans and families, while Erth’s Dinosaur Petting Zoo is just back from touring Japan, and earlier this year toured the US,” he said.
“The technologically advanced dinosaurs were described in the New York Times as ‘solid science as well as an extraordinary spectacle.’”
The crew from Craggy Island Highlands has also been putting in the finishing touches on Wednesday before judging begins in the cattle showing section at the Goods Shed.
Making the 40-minute drive from their farm in Penna with a herd of cattle and handlers was the least of their worries, with Alison Scott busy brushing and polishing the hoofs of highland cow mother Jeannie and her seven-month-old calf Jameson.
“This isn’t Jeannie’s first time in show, but it is Jameson’s, so we hope they go well together,” Ms Scott said.
“They had a wash before we came here and now we are doing all the other stuff like sanding their horns and polishing them and their hoofs as well as a very good brush.”
Both Jeannie and Jameson will compete in the Beef cattle classes as well as the breed-specific classes.
“Jeannie was actually the National Highland Supreme exhibit for the National Highland Show in 2021, so we have some experience in winning,” Ms Scott said.
“Jameson is still suckling though, so Jeannie is the entrant while the calf is the accessory. “Judges will look at the cow and then look at the calf for how quick its growing for its age and its condition.”
This week’s Royal Hobart Show is in the middle of a packed schedule for ride operators and owners like Dianne Alexander.
Mrs Alexander said from the Burnie Show until March, operators are on the road across Tasmania sharing the smiles and fun.
“I love to see the smiles on the kids’ faces,” the Beaconsfield-based co-owner of B&D Amusements said.
“They come to the show and they are so excited, they want to go on every ride,” she said.
Mrs Alexander is a third-generation entertainer, with two of her sons now working in the business and her 21 year-old granddaughter also interested in pursuing the career.
“I’ve always said it’s a lifestyle – you are either born into it or marry into it because no one would be silly enough to get into it.”
Mrs Alexander’s grandfather was the ringmaster of the Worley Brothers circus in Adelaide from the 1920s to the 1940s – he even owned a boxing kangaroo.
Her grandmother was a bareback horse rider and her father Chris Worley and his brothers all participated in the circus.
After WWII her father moved to Tasmania and continued to operate sideshows and rides with his family until his passing, before Mrs Worley took over the business.
She is at the Royal Hobart Show this weekend with some of the vintage rides her father built in the ’60s.
Mrs Alexander said one of the biggest changes in the show offerings over the years has been the uptake of more rides and less sideshow games.
She said once there were only two rides including the Gee Whizzer at shows in Tasmania. Now, the ride offerings are bigger than the sideshow and the burgeoning range of showbags are a hit.
Two-year-old Josie Douglas of Hobart couldn’t wait to get her hands on the Emma Memma showbag, which comes with a range of activities and accessories adorned with the beloved entertainer’s face, for $35.
A huge range of novelty, chocolate and lolly-filled showbags including bestsellers like the Cadbury range will be available at prices from $6 upwards.
Royal Agricultural Society of Tasmania operations manager Mitch Spong said the weather forecast was looking good and he expected Saturday to be the busiest day of the week, with ticket sales tracking the same as 2023.
Show time
Thursday, October 24: 9am – 5pm
Friday, October 25: 9am – 10pm
Saturday, October 26: 9am – 4pm
Tickets can be bought online at a discount: $15 for an adult, $9 for a child and $40 for a family.
Tickets can also be bought at the gate: $20 for an adult, $10 for a child and $50 for a family.
Purchased tickets can be used only once.
More Coverage
Originally published as Last-minute preparations for first day of Royal Hobart Show
Tassie beer with ‘cult-like’ following discontinued
An exclusive Tasmanian beer with a dedicated following has been stripped from bottle-shop shelves, sparking outrage among its loyal fanbase. Why the beer was discontinued.
Man accused of killing fur seal enters plea
A man has again appeared in Hobart Magistrates Court on numerous charges, including the alleged capture and death of a fur seal. What will happen next.