From showbags and pluto pups to camel racing and dodgem cars, the 162nd Maitland Show had it all.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Maitland Showground came alive over three action-packed days from February 16 to 18, with lots of excitement and action in the centre ring, sideshow alley and the pavilions.
According to Maitland Showground manager Brett Gleeson, there were solid crowds on both Friday and Saturday night, and the feedback has been very positive.
"Overall it was very good, reports are very positive about it, people have said there was lots to do," he said.
Mr Gleeson said it's still too early to confirm how many people attended, but he would guess it to be around the mid 20 thousands, on par with the 2023 show.
The animal nursery was very popular as always, as was the rodeo on Friday and grandstand entertainment on Saturday night.
"The animal nursery and interaction with the animals is always a popular part, looking at the grandstand the Saturday night program, camel racing was a great novelty and a lot of community involvement with that," he said.
"The precision driving utes also had a lot of community involvement by having people jump in and go for a spin with the guys that was a big hit as well, as always the demo derby, and the stunt bikes always have that wow factor as well."
There were some fantastic increases in competition entries this year, with entries in amateur photography up by about 150 per cent compared to last year, and art up by about 50 per cent.
"The cattle, we had almost 100 stud cattle here so cattle entries were up, dairy goats were up significantly, poultry was certainly very strong, horticulture was very strong," Mr Gleeson said.
"We had a few that jumped up significantly in terms of the support for the exhibits which was really, really pleasing."