Coronavirus Australia: Sydney Royal Easter Show showbags available online

The Royal Easter Show was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak but you don’t have to miss out on the popular showbags.

Showbags are a highlight of the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Picture: Richard Dobson

A string of major events have been cancelled as the country tackles the coronavirus outbreak — among them, the hugely popular Sydney Royal Easter Show.

The show was due to be held from April 3 to 14 but the federal government banned non-essential gatherings of 500 people or more.

It is the biggest annual ticketed event in Australia with 900,000 people attending in 2019, when 1.6 million showbags were sold and 50,000 scones munched through.

But there is a little bit of good news — more than 65 showbags, including from The Simpsons, Marvel, Showpo and, of course, the legendary Bertie Beetle, will be available online from today.

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Children usually leave the Easter Show with loads of showbags. Picture Rohan Kelly

Bertie Beetle is always popular. Picture Rohan Kelly

One for the Frozen fans. Picture Rohan Kelly

Suppliers Chicane Showbags has made online purchases available this year to help soften the blow.

“We are pleased to announce that we have been working furiously to prepare our warehouse to dispatch showbags and our full range is now available online. You may have missed out on the Easter Show, but you can still get your showbags – delivered to direct your door,” Emily Williams, co-owner of Chicane Showbags, said.

It’s only the third time the show has been cancelled — the other times were during the Spanish flu pandemic and the Great Depression.

Like many small businesses, Chicane Showbags has felt the pinch from the COVID-19 crisis.

“The Sydney Easter Show is the largest event on our calendar and we have been planning for the last 12 months,” Ms Williams said.

“We were so excited to bring our best range of showbags ever to the show. While this is a huge blow for our small business, we understand the health of Australians is the most important thing.

“We are also working on some other ideas on how we can still distribute our showbags to you so please standby and more news will come.”