The Leongatha Show

Wonderful memories of a bygone yearly institution

An annual agricultural show has been an event Victorian rural communities have held since the founding of the Pastoral and Agricultural Society of Australia Felix in Melbourne in 1840. When the townships of Victoria were first surveyed, land was always set aside for community recreation.

Having surveyed much of Gippsland, Surveyor Lardner could not possibly have imagined the facilities that now occupy the Leongatha Recreation Reserve. In his surveying of Leongatha in 1888-89 Lardner surveyed two areas, one of 32 acres for a park and recreation reserve and 15 acres for showgrounds. The people of Leongatha in 1892 were not happy with the choice of the area set aside, a swampy area near what is now McIndoe Park. The Land’s Department was asked to reserve an area on some higher ground in exchange. They agreed, and 107 acres in Roughead Street were set aside for community recreation. This is still the location of the Leongatha Recreation Reserve. Of that, 24 acres was set aside for the showgrounds.

The first meeting to consider founding an Agricultural and Pastoral Society for Leongatha was held on 18 June 1894 but due to lack of interest no action was taken. Eight years later in July 1902 a Society was formed. In September of that year arrangements were made to construct 50 cattle and horse pens, 150 sheep hurdles and the clearing of five chains (100 metres) of track on the showgrounds. The first Leongatha Show was held on Wednesday 18 February 1903 with 2500 people in attendance.

That first show had over 900 entries increasing to 1,300 in 1904. In 1905 it was a very hot day and the committee had arranged for the cartage of 3000 gallons of water to the reserve as well as copious amounts of beer and soft drink. By mid-afternoon there was only hot whisky and green ginger wine available.

The show organisers wanted to highlight agriculture and the activities pursued by locals. Categories to enter at early shows were produce from kitchen gardens and flower gardens, Ladies plain and fancy work, dairy produce, poultry, dairy stock, swine and horses. Equestrian events became very popular as were competitions for produce such as fruit, vegetable, jams and cakes. There was even a section for children’s handwriting.

Events where horses were the main attraction were introduced early in the show’s history. Equestrian competitions for children and adults had many entries. The show jumping was a spectacular event with many outstanding riders competing. A harness racing track used to run around the outside of the oval and harness races were another exciting spectacle. These races ended when an inside fence was required for the track. There were side shows and even a boxing tent. Other events associated with the show included highland dancing, tug of war and wood chopping.

The annual show was a highlight of the year for local families. Picnics on the day at the Recreation Reserve were a special treat. When the show introduced mechanical rides they became very popular with the children. A Miss Show Girl competition was another popular institution.

The Great Southern Star had reporters at the show to record all the results and these were typed up and appeared in the paper on the following Tuesday.

Over time, agricultural shows lost popularity and after celebrating the centenary in 2003 the Leongatha Show was not held again.