Inspiration & Ideas for Your Show
This list is a combination of ideas I have had, others have told me about and that I have seen at shows across the country. Some of these are tried and tested, some new and novel.
I hope theses ideas can provide you with some inspiration to adapt and create a new addition to your show.
- Competition and Entertainment Ideas
- Agricultural Based Entertainment & Education Ideas
- Committee Ideas
- Add your ideas to the list
Competition and Entertainment Ideas
Eye spy in homecrafts pavilion. Place an unexpected item in each section of the pavilion. Provide a sheet of paper with a list of all sections and let the sharp eyes start searching. This is a great way to entertain children, so families spend more time in the homecrafts (look carefully at the Jams and Preserves picture on the Show Resources page for an example).
Tim man (or animal). Good for school groups. Using recycled tins and cans of different sizes, create a structure or creature.
Paper plane competition or Gumboot throwing. Great as a free activity or small fundraiser. Works well for children and adults alike.
Award competitions. Many shows run a poster or show schedule front cover competition, how else could you use an award to promote your show and bring the winners talents and supporters into the show? Shop window displays. Competition for local shops, library, schools etc to prepare a promotional display for the show in their front window or prominent location.
Establish a School Garden Program to encourage students and families to learn where their food comes from, how plants grow and foster healthy living. Try a class for a Wheelbarrow Garden and a Home/School Grown Basket of Produce. Or include more of the food chain with a ‘Grow – Cook – Eat’ cookery class made from home/school produce.
Increase the relevance of shows through commercial and educational focused activities. For example, carcase competitions assist producers to better understand the product they are breeding, feeding and managing. An educational video for producers and students, on how beef carcases are graded would be a great tool shows could use to help improve traits, productivity and profitability through on-farm management.
Agricultural Based Entertainment & Education Ideas
Grow attendance and ag-education through traditional and contemporary programs. Embrace technology to capture peoples attention and have the modern generation participate with us through their favourite media.
Grow attendance and ag-education through traditional and contemporary programs. To engage with a generation that are interacting more with mobile phones than face to face, lets embrace technology to capture their attention and have people participate with us through their favourite media. Encourage public to name a lamb, “Ask a Farmer”, link to an on-farm video, enter competitions or vote for a winner via their mobile phone.
Agri-food Trail or Paddock-to-Plate walk. Create a map or trail to emphasize the animal, food or agricultural aspects of your show.
Ag- computer gaming area, next to rest spot and coffee vendor for parents. Children are used to using computers for entertainment. Can we provide access to agricultural games, such as those created by industry groups to help educate children. (eg. Meat and Livestock Australia and Dairy Australia games)
Ag- experience area, next to rest spot and coffee vendor for parents. Similar to above, but let get interactive. What small activities can we provide to get children to touch, feel and explore food, fiber or agriculture. Provide information for parents to read to help teach and spread the right message. (eg. fine ‘clothing’ fleece vs coarse ‘carpet’ fleece, different grains, different animal feed types, how much water and food does a cow eat per day, etc.)
Kids teddy bear shearing. In the breaks between shearing demonstrations or competition, invite children up to the board to race to ‘shear’ a large teddy bear with a cardboard cut out hand piece. Encourage them to make sure they start on the belly, … , get every limb, … , talk them through the process and get parents to cheer them on.
Committee Ideas
Attract and retain volunteers for a vibrant adaptable committee that combines knowledge and experience with fresh ideas and motivation. Consider partnerships with other community groups, a buddy system for new committee members and a student mentoring program to build new skills and share the work load.
Promote your show. Create a show promotional video which highlights your activities and benefits of being a member, what you offer to the community. See if a local TAFE or school media/communications students could use this as a project or to developer skills.
Add your ideas to the list
There is so much wisdom and experience in a show community, what have you seen or are your your ideas that could encourage another show to try something new next year?
Add Your Ideas Here!
