Sophie Conlon
Excitement is building as organisers gear up for the 114th annual Mundulla Show next month.
President Brody Lock said he was excited to see some loved events return to the show for the first time in a few years.
“I think having a band back on the Saturday night is a big, exciting thing to have going again,” he said.
“Boots N All [are playing], they get around to a few of the local shows and BNS events, a real classic pub tune.”
He said there would also be bit of change to the barrel racing, with the event set to take place on Friday night, giving competitors the chance to take part at the show and at the Goroke Rodeo the next day.
“There is memorial trophy that goes along with that for Macey and Rachel, so there’s a lot of sentiment behind it as well as the actual barrel racing,” he said.
While there would be some new aspects and changes to the show this year, Mr Lock said all the favourites would remain.
“Show jumping’s the same, the hall’s the same, we’ll have the stockman’s challenge floating around the place on both days,” he said.
“Usual farm stuff, cattle and sheep are all still happening, grain, yard dogs, and then we’ve got the usual trade sites.”
He said a lot of entries had been rolling in for the horse categories and farmers challenge, with all the event entries looking promising.
With a theme of Family, Our Greatest Treasure, Mr Lock said there would be plenty for the whole family, with free children’s entertainment for the littlest people, including the return of the Bunyip Trail
“We worked hard to get free face painting and those sort of things,” he said.
“That’s pretty important to us.”
With about three weeks till the show, Mr Lock said everything was coming together smoothly, but the committee was still on the hunt for people to help out leading up to and on the day.
“There’s always options to get involved in any way shape or form,” he said.
To ensure the show’s future, Mr Lock said it would be great to see more people join the committee to see events in 2025 and beyond.
“We tend to have more people helping out, but to have more people in the planning is probably what we need to look for going forward,” he said.
He said the Young Judges Program and Young Rural Ambassador Program provided great opportunities for younger people to get involved.
“Those competitions are quite strong, where we have a lot of entrants for them, especially the cattle,” he said.
“It’s pretty important to get people interested and involved early on.”
Having been part of the Rural Ambassador Program and involved with country shows for as long as he could remember, Mr Lock agreed they were the lifeblood of the community.
“For me, it’s part of the yearly calendar,” he said.
Mr Lock said they offered people a chance to catch up with old mates and celebrate who they were.
“There’s a lot of people who pencil in their local show every year and come to it just to catch up with people more than anything.
“And then at the same time they are a chance to celebrate what you do and who you are, through your products or your performance and that sort of stuff.”
The Mundulla Show will take place from Friday, March 1, to Sunday March 3.
For more information visit the Mundulla Show website at mundullashow.org.au
