Over the weekend, Mark and I headed to the Royal Adelaide Show. Similar to the New Mexico State Fair, back in my homeland, the Royal Show is an annual agriculture event. Every September, (coincidentally the same month as the NM State Fair), a little bit of the country comes to the big city. It is an opportunity for the State's farmers to show off their livestock in addition to their produce: wool, grains, grasses, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. There are competitions of beauty and strength, for man and beast--horse riding, dog shows, tent pegging, and wood chopping (just to name a few). ,You can also find a variety of demonstrations-cooking, sheep sheering, cattle milking, and iron-smithing. For those not interested in agriculture there are plenty of other activities: gourmet food and wine tasting, live entertainment, art shows, and of course carnival rides. All of these are activities that I easily associate with Fair Time.
The one thing that I found unique to the Royal Show was what they call Showbags. There is an entire Pavilion devoted to these themed bags, which are promotional in nature. Even though in the past these sample bags were free, they now sell for a set price, with the average being $10 to $20. You can buy everything from bags of chips, to candy bars, to toys, to cosmetics. Truthfully, I found the Showbag Pavilion a bit overwhelming--a true representation of mass consumerism--but a distinctive feature Australian Shows.Would love to hear about the fairs/shows where you live.
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Haven't been to a State Fair in Oregon for a couple of year. But A highlight was definitely the concert by Pepe and the Bottled Blondes. And I just can't forget the darling faces of all those sheep and the itsy bitsy nursing piglets.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it. What show bags did you bring home, if any? This is one of those things that keeps going on my 'things to do next year' list.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the wood cutting competition!
ReplyDeleteSuzer, I left without any show bags--not my thing. I am glad we got around to going, since we had planned to go last year but bailed when we found out it cost $18 to get in.