By Tania Phillips
Killarney Show is one of the focal points of the local community a chance for locals old and new to come together and enjoy what they have in the Seachanging region according to Show and Rodeo Society President Jan Hamilton.
And it’s also a bit of a tourist attraction and some-what unique given that the Killarney Show Society has one of the very few grounds not owned by a council.
“I think the country atmosphere makes it special, the friendliness of the town,” Jan said.
“In the past two years since covid, our tourists have been unbelievable, from Friday to Monday the town is just buzzing.
“We get heaps and heaps or tourists and we have a lot of new people in town, it’s amazing how many new people there are now, bringing their own talent.”
Held from 24-25 February the show starts a very busy few months for the Show Society. The show is held one week and then the following week it’s all hands to the pumps again for the committee for another event.
“Killarney show grounds is one of the very few privately owned showgrounds in Australia, we aren’t owned by the council so we have a lot of events throughout the year, we don’t have to compete with the football clubs to use the ground,” Jan explained.
“After the show, the week after, there is a big Horse Cutting Event – the grounds will be ready, but will have to make sure it’s cleaned up from the show, we’ve got all bins empty and ready to go.
“Then we’ve got the big Killarney P&C Bike ride, we help with catering and then Warwick Endurance in April followed by the Indian Motorbike club’s four-day event and then in May we have the Campdraft.”
But first things first and the committee and volunteers are about to hold a working bee to get the grounds ready for their biggest event of the year – their show.
“The show is 24-25 February and on the Friday we have a prime cattle section that starts early in the morning and goes until lunch time and then we have a rodeo starting at 6pm on Friday night,” Jan explained.
“The pavilion will be open from about 2pm on Friday, after all the entries come in and we get all of the judging finished, then the stewards get to display the areas the best they can which is usually really, really good. And they show off all the talent in the community.
“Our cookery is really strong, especially our junior cookery, well every section is strong, but the kids really put a lot of entries in. Lego is a big section too. We’ve got a couple of different age groups and there’s two sections, your own creation or a creation from the box. The one with the box comes with instructions but your own creation well it’s just amazing what the kids come up with. It’s a great display.
“The floral art is always really good and with this bit of rain around we might have a good display in our horticultural section, the cut roses and flowers. It was getting dry but now with this bit of rain it might be enough to bring things around in the next 30 days hopefully.
“The farmers bring in a good display with heads of sunflower, corn, lucerne and things like that, we always have a good display of their crops.”
“That’s Friday, the prime cattle, the rodeo and the pavilion opening.
“On Saturday it starts off early with showjumping which is a really big event, lots of competitors. We have all the different horse sections within the ring, the woodchop which is massive, we get really great competitors for the woodchop that starts at 9am and goes usually until 4pm and it’s full on all day.
“We’ve got dog high jumping – you can bring your dog along and see how high it can jump. That’s really great fun we have two sections of that. We’ve also got The Big Bang Science Fair that’s something new for the Killarney Show, that’s something good for the kids. We’ve got the Bunnings area for the kids, Bushcare, the Age Care have a display. We’ve got a marquee which is a great place to sit in the shade, you can also see the ring from there. There’s a lots of shady areas, the veranda of the pavilion is massive you can sit out on the veranda. The entertainment marquee is where the school choir perform, the local dancers perform and that’s where we have a lot of give-aways.”
She said it is still a true local community event.
“Oh it is and it’s full on all day, there is something going on all the time and of course you have side-show alley and what ever comes along with that.”
Jan has been president “for a while” and thinks she’s hit ten years but she’s been so busy doing the job that she’s probably missed that milestone. “I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t enjoy it so much, it is very stressful but it gets you going every day.”
“The show is more work than any other event that we run throughout the year,” she said.
“We start six months before the date, finding sponsors organizing stewards but then the stewards take on their sections and do a fantastic job – there’s no show without your volunteers and your stewards.”
