It’s that special time of the year as the gates open on Friday 18 May to the Ipswich Show.
It’s one of the biggest events on the Ipswich calendar and young and old alike look forward to the annual celebration.
Everyone has different things they head to first. Whether it’s the show bag pavillion, the wood chopping or maybe the giant pumpkin display, the show is a long held community tradition.
One of the newer programs introduced last year is the Busted Hat competition. The busted hat is to be accompanied by a poem or story about the life of the hat.
Ipswich Show Society vice-president Darren Zanow feels this competition is popular because it captures the authenticity of something that becomes very personal for people.
“It’s a personal thing, your hat. It’s kind of like your mobile phone, it’s always with you,” Mr Zanow said.
This poem accompanies the hat pictured above, worn by Ipswich Show Society president David ‘Rusty’ Thomas.
My Hat My Horse
By: Jonno Trammez
I wear my hat when riding my horse
Even in the show ring, of course!
My horses name is Trigger
He is much bigger
Than the usual Clydesdales
That old bushman write tales
Of horses in the high country
If I continue on I’ll give you dysentery!
“They get beaten up, stained and smelly but people still keep them and wear them.
“What the competition does is it gets to the essence of what that hat means to its wearer.
“We want to weed out what the story is, there is always a story.”
Ipswich Show Society president David ‘Rusty’ Thomas feels they have the mix right between tradition and the latest and greatest, from the entertainment to rides. He encourages all members of the community to come along.
“This is our 145th show. We’ve got four new rides this year, there is lots of entertainment and we have all of the regular things you look forward to every year,” Mr Thomas said.
“I’d like the people of Ipswich to come along and support it.
“All of our committee members are volunteers and they put a lot of hours into putting the show on for the residents of Ipswich.”
Ipswich Show Details
Friday 18 May – Sunday 20 May
Gates open 9am – 9pm
Ipswich Showgrounds, 81 Warwick Road, Ipswich
$20 adults, $10 primary school students, under prep free
Show members receive unlimited entry over the three days and nights. Membership is $45.
A C-17A Globemaster III will conduct a flypast of the Ipswich Show on Friday, 18 May.
The flypast will occur at 4:50pm during the Opening Ceremony.
People attending the show will be able to view the Globemaster flypast from the grandstand on the showgrounds. The aircraft will flypast in a south-to-north direction as low as 150m.
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