Australian Amusement Fanatics

Hi, i was wondering do showmen have to booked their spot where they set up and camp and stuff in advance for shows??

Yes and depending on the show or event, it can be quite a process, especially when bidding for space at a capital city show.

oh really, do they have to bid for the space, what happens if you lose it, what happens next and is that the same for regional shows as well??

In the case of capital city shows, operators fill out a lot of paperwork and pay a fee to submit an expression of interest to have their attraction at the Show. It is usually up to the Exhibit Manager at the Royal Agricultural Societies to decide what is accepted and what will ultimately appear at a Royal Show. Then once the rides are on site, they are fully checked and certified by organisations such as Work Cover and are then free to operate. I understand the RAS receives a certain percentage of the takings from each ride but I don't know how much this is.

The above mentioned process is also in place for smaller agricultural shows although the ride line-up at each event rests far more with the Showmans Guild of Australaysia rather than the local show society. For nonshow events, rides are hired by local councils, schools for fates etc.

okay, ahh thats what they have to do, so do you know if there is a limit for types of rides that are allow at a show like for an example like if a lot of Thrill rides wanted the places and there was not enough of the kiddie and family rides??
how do you know whats coming in rides at shows is there a ride list of whats going to show up at a show, how can i find out??

Capital city shows definitely have a carnival layout which features certain types of rides. For example, most will feature an inverted ride like Hangover or Ranger, a Rainbow like attraction, Wave Swinger, Dogem Cars, Ferris Wheel and of course kiddy attractions. A roller coaster is also a given for the Easter Show and probably others as well. A good example of this type of layout is when a particular ride like Ranger isn't available, it is replaced with something similar, in this case Hangover. Regional shows don't necessarily follow this type of structure, hence the huge number of Dogem Cars and several types of the same ride appearing in the same carnival.

hmm.. thats very interesting how they layout a royal show, so that would mean the EKKA would be similar to the layouts other royal shows have?? In my life i havent been to a capital city show and would love to go to one.. i notice when i visited the Fraser Coast show (Maryborough QLD) last year they had 2 inverted rides (Hangover, Gill's Kamikaze) there, is it common to have 2 or more of the same type ride at a regional show?? I know ive never seen the same type ride at Gympie but yeah like you said we get alot of dogem cars at Gympie every year.. whys alot of dogem cars seen alot at regional shows these days is it because its cheap to run??

Steve07 wrote:whys alot of dogem cars seen alot at regional shows these days is it because its cheap to run??

Probably because of that and supply and demand.

And cause they're one of the top earners at a show, anyone can ride them...

okay... thats true.. so are showmen allow to set up like a week or 2 before the show actually starts or is there a time limit to when they are to set up at a showground??

Usually the showgrounds have certain times when the rides can "bump in" and when you have a show close to each other (adelaide and melbourne) it's pretty much, pack up in adelaide, bump out and head to melbourne to set up. Times are just allocated because other exhibits and livestock also need to be driven in and out.

ahh okay, so if a show decided to change its dates to a later week on the same time as another show would it ruin it for the other show thats on the same day because thats whats happen to the Gympie QLD one, Ipswich QLD has changed the dates this year to our show weekend??

Gee BenClare for someone who doesn't work as a showie you sure seem pretty spot-on and have a good way of explaining it

so anyway im just wondering will they ever bring back the sky lifts to the EKKA one year or is it gone forever??

They are gone forever.

o well... do the rides we see in capital city's go to regional shows when they arent on or do they only do captial city shows??

Correct... there is a clone of every ride that does a capital show. They get stored away at Kennard's self storage when the capitals aren't on then then the clone's only travel doing the regionals

I like that TG

whats the biggest regional show in Queensland??

the biggest regional show in qld is townsville