Imagine, it is the 1960s and it is Easter Time. You are so excited, because this year, your parents are giving you a special treat. They are taking you to the Royal Agricultural Show, the Easter Show. This will be the first time you get to see the show, but you have heard so much about it. You aren’t sure if you are most looking forward to seeing the animals, or the exhibitions of produce, but it will be grand! You are also looking forward to getting your free samples in the showbags.
When I showed this Map of Sydney Showgrounds and Agricultural Show Guide to the children they were a little confused. They didn’t have any idea what the Agricultural Show was! Today the children have almost all been to the Royal Easter Show, but they don’t realise that it was originally called the Agricultural Show, or that it has a very long history. Indeed, some don’t even realise that the show is an agricultural show at all, just thinking about the famous showbags and rides.
The Sydney Royal Easter Show has an exceedingly long and important history, dating right back to the convict era in Australia. In 1822 some of Sydney’s leading residents joined together to create the Agricultural Society of NSW. They wanted to improve the quality of Australia’s agricultural production by holding contests and competitions. Within a year the Agricultural Society (which still run the show today, though they are now known as the Royal Agricultural Society!) held their first show in Parramatta which was then the agricultural centre of the colony. When this show was held it was very important that Australia’s primary production was improved as there were now about 30000 people living in NSW (half of them convicts), and the colony was struggling to provide for them. The original shows were a huge success but from 1836 the annual show was not held because of drought and depression
In 1857 the Agricultural Society began holding shows (then known as exhibitions) again, still at Parramatta. In 1868 the exhibitions were moved to Price Alfred Park and in 1881 the Royal Agricultural Society started to look for a new location to hold the shows. The city council offered 40 acres of sandy scrub land at Moore Park for the low rent of £10. The Royal Agricultural Society agreed to this and with the help of the NSW Government and of public subscriptions, they built the Sydney Showgrounds. The showgrounds remained the home of the show for another 115 years, other than during the Influenza epidemic of 1919 when the showgrounds were used as a hospital and morgue, and during World War II when they were requisitioned for military use. By the late 1980s though, the Sydney Royal Easter Show as it had become known had become so big that the old showgrounds were no longer sufficient. In 1994 the NSW Government agreed to allow the show to be held at what was to be the Sydney Olympic Park site and the first show was held there in 1998.