Have you ever wondered what it takes to be in the running for 1st or 2nd at  the 150th Daylesford Show on November 23, 2024?  

Agricultural shows have many competitions – cookery, arts and crafts,  photography, farm and garden produce, cut flowers and floral art, horses, sheep,  poultry, dogs and there are specific junior competitions.

Exhibitors from all over are  invited to compete, only a few are district competitions limited to those living no  more than 25km from the Daylesford Post Office.  

Some hints and tips for success at the show: when entering farm produce, make  sure it is good quality produce, free from disease and damage; vegetables and fruit must be fresh, crisp and clean and of uniform shape and size; flowers must be at the  peak of their development, with strong, straight stems and clean, healthy foliage;  floral art exhibits must be well-balanced and in a complementary container, and jams, jellies and preserves must be flavourful and true to the colour of the fruit or vegetable  from which they are made.

They must be presented in the specified container, with  jam seals, not lids. They must be properly labelled.  Also keep in mind: cakes, biscuits and slices must be of a fine, even texture, with  even colour; knitting, crochet, sewing and needlework must be clean and unworn; exhibits must comply with the description in the schedule, entries must have their  section tickets attached.

If you enter online, you must print out your section tickets; and exhibits must have been made in the past 12 months, by an amateur exhibitor.  

Do you want to pit your skills against winners from other Agricultural Shows?  

Entries in Victorian agricultural shows must be of the highest standard as  winners at our show will be judged against winners from other shows in the state and exhibited at the Melbourne Royal next year.

Entries in Midlands competitions, similarly, will be judged against winners from other shows in our area.  

You can enter at www.daylesfordshow.com or use the entry form, also online. Entries close midnight November 17 and exhibits must be delivered to the relevant pavilion at Victoria Park between 10am and 12.30pm on Friday, November 22 for  judging.

Looking forward to your entries. For more information email info daylesfordshow.com  

Words: Mary Harvey, Schedule Secretary, Daylesford and District Agricultural Society   

The first Daylesford Show was held in 1865 and, apart from interruptions for world wars and Covid in 2020 and 2021, has been held annually since then.

In order for our show to be sustainable into the future we need local input in the form of attendance at the show and entries in our many competitions. We aim to be a traditional agricultural show, with horse, sheep, poultry and dog competitions. There are also homecraft competitions including garden produce and flowers, cookery, arts and crafts as well as photography.

We also have the traditional sideshow alley with games, showbags and carnival food, plus some local vendors of wine, cider and food.

Thanks to our generous local sponsors and supporters in 2023 we are able to offer a range of special prizes and awards for both adults and juniors. There are no entry fees for juniors in the homecrafts and photography sections. There will be a sash and a special prize for the best junior exhibit; and there are a range of special awards and prizes in almost all sections of competitions.

We have engaged some special attractions for children (and adults) in the form of the petting zoo, Professor Wallace’s puppet show and the rescue ferrets group. There will be a number of special activities for children in and around the Tom Ford Pavilion, including a Show Quiz Wiz and various games and activities as well as novelty races. There will also be acoustic youth singers.

New in 2023 will be a face painter and pony rides for children (from 1pm-3pm) – all free activities. We will also have the Newport Bush Orchestra organising some called dances.

Our “Hall of Flowers”, the Table Tennis Pavilion, will again be organised by Daylesford Horticultural Society and the Friends of the Wombat Gardens and will include Spring Park Nursery and Vanessa Craven’s Lake Mist. Rijk Zwaan will have a colouring competition for children.

There will be a local spinner demonstrating her craft and the Sew Crazy quilting and sewing stall. A number of local organisations such as Seed Savers and Wombat Forestcare will be represented as well.
The grand raffle, with prizes gifted by local businesses, will be drawn at 2pm. Daylesford & District Agricultural Society president Don Harvey asks people to please remember that the Daylesford Agricultural Show is an entirely voluntary effort, staffed only by local volunteers.

Words: Mary Harvey, Daylesford & District Agricultural Society