THE Cohuna Recreation Reserve was a hive of activity at the weekend as the town celebrated its 108th annual agricultural show.
Hundreds of showgoers passed through the gates during the two-day event, with Show president Graeme Peace admitting he was overwhelmed by the support.
“The amount of volunteer hours that go into putting this show together is incredible,” Mr Peace said.
“It’s been a busy week and we’ve got lots of great volunteers who pull their weight.”
While the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic, and was scaled back to a one-day event last year, things were back in full swing this year, with a busy show schedule.
“We were over the moon with the turnout on Friday night,” Mr Peace said.
“It’s been great seeing the families return.
“We also had a very good day on Saturday. We struck it lucky with the weather and it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves.”
Mr Peace said COVID had been challenging and the committee was now working to rebuild the event.
“We didn’t have any fireworks this year as we had to be conservative with our money,” Mr Peace said.
“Once we get COVID out of the way, things will be a lot easier.”
These sentiments were echoed by Victorian Showmen’s Guild executive committee member Annette Calder who travelled to Cohuna with her laughing clowns.
She was born into the industry and has been part of the show circuit her whole life.
“The last three years have been really tough and I’m expecting some showmen won’t come back from this,” Ms Calder said, noting COVID, rising insurance costs and now skyrocketing petrol prices had impacted the industry.
“It’s been a very sad time for us, but I’m so grateful to be here and working.”
Ms Calder said she was grateful for the Cohuna show committee which worked hard to ensure the continuation of the event.
“Nationally we’ve had 15 shows cancel in the last few weeks,” she said, adding there were still very uncertain times ahead.
Meanwhile, a highlight of this year’s event was the official opening of the show’s new pavilion, which was officially opened by Member for Mallee, Anne Webster on Friday night.
