Sandra Webb,73,lives in Warrnambool and comes to the show every year to sell jams,fruit cakes and knitwear for the Country Women’s Association,and says she’s seen the show become increasingly commercialised over the years.
“It’s just a carnival now really,” she says. “I can remember coming as a kid and getting little tiny bottles of tomato sauce and cans of tomato soup. The kids miss out on all of that these days.”
Organisers promised this year’s Show,the 175th,would be a return to its agricultural beginnings after some farmers abandoned last year’s event and criticised it for moving away from its rural roots.
Loading
Chief executive Brad Jenkins says the Show was started by a group of farmers who wanted to promote and improve agriculture.
“That’s really been the essence of the Show,” he says. “Over the past 175 years,the Show has grown and evolved and changed to remain relevant but at the core of it,it’s still where the country meets the city. It’s a showcase of agriculture. And that’s what we’re really celebrating.”
Despite this push,some livestock entries are down. There are more than 600 entries for cattle and 300 for sheep this year,down from pre-COVID-19 when there were 600 cattle and 700 sheep entries.