IDEAL weather conditions, a bumper program of events on Monday night and good entry numbers are set to help attract people to the Kerang and District Agricultural Society’s annual celebrations.
The society will spend today to Sunday putting the final touches to Alexandra Park in readiness for the 133rd annual Kerang Show.
Organisers hope a new program and temperatures in the mid-20s will attract people to the event, with poor weather conditions impacting on attendance figures at the past two shows.
“The weather for the past two shows has been shocking,” agricultural society president, Geoff Davey said.
“Last year’s show was wet, whilst the year before it was the hottest and windiest conditions you could get.”
Society members will hold a working bee today to ensure Alexandra Park is ready for the two-day celebrations, which begin early Monday morning.
“We will need to de-cobweb and dust out all of the pavilions, as well as the cattle and poultry sheds,” Mr Davey said.
“Work will also need to be done to peg out the four equestrian rings.”
Visitors to Alexandra Park will also notice new signage identifying locations for key events.
A Gannawarra Shire Council grant covered the cost of new signage that will be used throughout the facility.
“We appreciate the support council has provided for the new signage,” Mr Davey said.
Equine competitions and the dog show will open proceedings on Monday morning, with a variety of new and popular events occurring in the afternoon and evening.
Food traders will be moved into a food court area, which will also include the stage where a band will perform and official proceedings will be run.
Judging of the Miss Kerang Show Girl sections – previously a Tuesday afternoon tradition – will occur at 5.30pm on the Monday, with Victorian Agricultural Societies chairman, Jenny Daffy, to open the show at 5.25pm.
Sideshow Alley and its rides will be popular once again, with other attractions – including camel rides, a bucking bull, polocross demonstration, face painting, laser tag, the animal nursery, pet competition, the pavilion sections and a whipcracking demonstration – to draw crowds.
“We have a really good commitment from the shows guild that there will be more rides in Sideshow Alley than the past few years,” Mr Davey said.
The show’s traditional agricultural competitions – including cattle, poultry and sheep – will occur on Tuesday morning, with entries already looking ideal.
“We will have around 20 beef cattle and roughly 30 to 40 sheep to judge,” Davey said.
“There are two new sheep exhibitors and one new beef exhibitor.”
More than 400 local schoolchildren will also visit the venue on Tuesday as part of an educational experience, with the Country Fire Authority, Victoria Police and State Emergency Service to run demonstrations.
Parks Victoria representatives and Vicky the Truck – which promotes the stories of Victorians and how they contribute to society – will also be in attendance.
Entries for the pavilion section are now being accepted at the show office, located on the Park Road side of Alexandra Park, between 10am and 4pm today, as well as during limited hours at the weekend.
Details on all events are also available on the Kerang Show Facebook page.
