I have been to the Sydney Royal Easter Show many times. Sometimes I don’t know why I still go because it’s more or less the same every year.
For first-timers, here are my tips:
- Buy your tickets early as return public transportation (bus, train, ferry, light rail) is included in the price.
- If you are a lousy planner, don’t panic, tickets are sold at the gate too.
- Bring extra cash for the carnival rides and food trucks.
- Catch some shows at the main stadium before the fireworks – they are free!
- Don’t leave the showbag pavilion till the last minute as the popular showbags will sold-out.
Getting to the Show
Tickets
It is easy to get to the Sydney Royal Easter Show by public transport. The price of your return public transport (train, bus, ferry, light rail) on the day is included in your Easter Show Showlink tickets. It therefore makes sense to pre-purchase your tickets before you head to the Easter Show. However, if you do not have time to pre-purchase your tickets, you can purchase them at the gate for the same retail price (but that means you will have to pay for your transportation getting there).
We used to be able to buy Showlink tickets at the Sydney train stations. However, for some absurd reasons, tickets are no longer available at the train stations from 2015. The only way to pre-purchase tickets is online through their official website: http://www.eastershow.com.au/.
There are often discounted Easter Show tickets during this season. Do keep an eye out on the groupon and bargain websites (e.g. OzBargain), and use the savings on an extra showbag!
Train
If you are catching the train, get off at Olympic Park station and it will take you directly to the Easter Show entrance. Remember, you do not need to purchase any public transport tickets if you have your Showlink ticket with you. Just flash your Showlink ticket at any train station and the station staff will let you through.
This photo was taken right after the fireworks (the finale event that concluded the night) on Easter Monday 2015 – the train came frequently and we got seats easily. The crowd really isn’t too bad generally.
Driving
There are plenty of parking at Olympic Park. However, you might end up having to do more walking if you drive as there is no guarantee that you will be able to park at the carpark closest to the Easter Show entrance.
The flat rate parking fee is a whooping $25 per day.
Animals Walk
There are pavilions after pavilions of farm animals at the show. Just follow the “paw paths” on the ground and you will get to meet more than 10,000 animals being transported here especially for the Royal Easter Show. Alpacas, cattle, horses, dogs, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks, goose, sheep, you name it.
Alpacas! Why so clueless.
“I’m not an alpaca.”, says Brian. “I’m a Llama!”, says Brian.
The Sydney Royal Sheep & Fleece Show is one of the largest and most prestigious Sheep & Fleece Shows in Australia. Each year over 700 sheep and 100 fleeces are exhibited at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
The Sydney Royal Poultry and Pigeon Show is another Easter Show tradition, featuring award winning chooks and duckies. I kept getting goosebumps walking along the corridor of caged chickens (probably because I feel guilty about eating their kinds…).
Such a cute smiling duckie! Sorry you’re in a cage:(
There are milking demonstrations at the Milking Barn, and a chance for showgoers to have a go at hand-milking the cows.
Jen and I and our freebie cow ears at the Milking Barn. Easter Show is the one place where you can wear ridiculous props in broad daylight!
We came across the judging of the Sydney Royal Goat Show but we had no idea what the judges were doing and how the goats were scoring. Nevertheless, competing in the Royal Easter Show must be a huge thing for the farmers, so kudos to them all!
The most popular event of the Animal Walk is no doubt the Farmyard Nursery pavilion. This is an indoor petting zoo full of the cute and fluffy farmyard friends wandering around.
A baby boy petting a baby goat curiously.
This baby girl was brushing the sheep with a comb. She didn’t want to leave! Awww and I like how the sheep looked like it’s none of his business haha.
Say goateeeeee.
There are handwash stations at the exit of every animal pavilion, so everyone can go ahead and pet the animals with the peace of mind that your hands will stay clean for the rest of the show.
Food at the Royal Easter Show
It is important to keep your hands clean, because there’s a food truck in every corner. After seeing these yummy looking Cheese on a Stick on Chocolatesuze’s blog, I practically was hunting for them when I got to the Show.
Found them!
Cheese on a Stick, $5. Ahhhhh heavenly deep-fried cheese dog.
Jen and I also got a large fresh lemonade (large $7; small $5). Nice and refreshing.
You can expect everything to be pricey at the show – but that’s the nature of all carnivals. In my student days, I used to come to the Easter Show after a big lunch because I didn’t want to waste money on the rip-off carnival food.
Nowadays, I still think they are a rip-off…But at least everything I eat contributes to my blog!
Giant corndog is really giant.
Another market favourite – corns.
Chips on a stick, $6 each (or 3 for $15). Undeniably overpriced for what is essentially chips in a funky shape. Nonetheless, if you like hot chips, you will love this.
Showbags
There are literally hundreds of showbags to choose from. You can get bags of lollies, chocolate, chips, toys and magazines at discounted prices.
Apart from the showbag stalls alongside the streets of the Show, the entire Showbag Pavilion is dedicated solely to showbags. It is often a dilemma as to when is the best time to buy your showbags – the downside of buying too early is that you have to carry them for the whole day; however, the risk of leaving it too late means that your favourite showbags may be sold out (the popular ones always run out early).
My tip: Bring dad.
(Just kidding! But knowing my dad, he definitely would volunteer to take the showbags to the car for us while we play – best dad ever.)
Rides and games
Follow the iconic Easter Show Ferris wheel for some adrenaline rush.
You must purchase coupons to get on the rides as they are not included in the Showlink tickets. Each ride requires different numbers of coupons. E.g, the Taipan roller coaster requires 7 coupons, and the Pirates Revenge aquatic roller coaster requires 8 coupons. As an indication, the prices this year are:
- 75 coupons $70.00
- 50 coupons $50.00
- 20 coupons $20.00
- Single coupons $1.10
The carnival rides are so sophisticated these days I almost forgot it’s all temporary.
Even though I didn’t go on any rides this year, the excitement and happiness that filled the air was contagious.
It actually costs a fortune to go on these carnival rides. However, as Sydney doesn’t have any theme parks, the Royal Easter Show is really the only place for the kids (and the kids within) to get some large scale thrilling action.
Meanwhile in Spotless Stadium…
The main stadium always has something going on, and a lot of them involve handsome horses!
The Rodeo show gathers the country’s best Bull Riders, Steer Wrestlers, Bareback Riders and Barrel Racers performing and competing for the loud cheering crowd. I watched it for the first time this year and it was so intense!
The theme was State of Origin, the epic blues (NSW) vs maroons (QLD) clash. The bucking horses and bulls were awfully fierce, wild and utterly out of control, I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. Every time when a rider fell, I would exclaim in panic and pray that the angry bull wouldn’t stomp on anyone (a bull weighs 1000kg!).
Before today, I never knew there was such a thing known as “steer wrestler” as part of the rodeo show.
So two riders would ride on horseback rushing out from the gate, together with a steer running along them. At some point, one rider would leap from the horse and tackle the steer! Whoever wrestles the steer to the ground first wins. Very random.
We also saw these working sheep dogs in action, bossing the sheep around.
“Crazy American” man’s explosion show.
Xtreme Korruption‘s show was hands down the highlight of the night. It’s the combination of dare-devil motorbike tricks and precision driving antics that blew us away. The whole time I would scream for encores, but then immediately hope that they wouldn’t do it again because it got more and more extreme that my heart almost jumped out of my mouth.
All shows at the main stadium are free!
The shows and events were very well-organised and action-packed. We started watching the rodeo show at 6pm, before we knew it, it’s time for the fireworks!
The fireworks started at 8:45pm sharp at the main stadium right after the Xtreme Korruption brought the crowd to a climax, a perfect finale.
Sydney always goes all out on fireworks – this dazzling explosion continued for 12 minutes.
12 minutes of fireworks, every, single, night.
Good night, see you next Easter.
{Royal Sydney Easter Show} Where: Olympic Park, Sydney Website: http://www.eastershow.com.au/
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