The 2024 Elders Lismore Show is set to be spectacular. There will be new aspects to the show, first-ever championships, old favourites, and a ride making its debut in New South Wales.

Importantly, the weather will clear, and very little rain is expected over the three days. The forecast is for a few millimetres at most on Thursday.

John Gibson, the long-time President of the North Coast National Lismore Show, was very happy to announce, “The grounds look in wonderful order, and we're looking at a great show. With all the entertainment, we've got new things around to look at and be involved in.

Libby McDonald, event coordinator at North Coast National Lismore Show, says, “The entertainment at the show this year is spectacular. We've got jet packs, motocross and monster trucks. 

“We've got two new zones popping up as well. We have our Kid's Zone, which features Dirt Girl, Scrap Boy and the Grubby Bucket Shows.

“We have our Petting Zoo, reptiles, the Pop Culture Zone and our new family-friendly Dog Show. 

(The Lismore Lantern Parade's Micu Chan, a sister city mascot from Yamato Takada, is part of the new Pop Culture Zone)

“That is a fun dog show with the waggiest tail, the Wiener race and the doggy dash. Entries are still open, if you would like to be in it. 

The Pop Culture Zone is a first for the region, and is proving to be popular with entries in the community parade on Friday night. If you would like to participate, contact the show, entries are still open for this event.

Mr Gibson adds, “In the wood chop, this is the first time we've had the Australian championships here. One of the people competing has been a world champion a couple of years ago. So it will be as high quality as you can get!

(Logs are stacked and ready to go at the Hurford Woodchop)

“The pavilions have got somewhere like almost 250 exhibitors, the most we have had in a long, long time. In the Tursa art show, we've got somewhere between 150 to 170 entries.

“Beef cattle entries were very strong, over 300 stud cattle, 80 heifers, and 75 steers on show. There’s a popular poetry section.

(Show cattle all lined up at the showground this afternoon)

“For the first time in many, many years, our car pavilion will be full of new cars, and we're very appreciative of the car dealers coming back and supporting our show. 

“So all in all, it's a very strong show. With fine weather, we could even be looking at record crowds by Saturday night.”

Final preparations were in full swing, with rides being built, food trucks arriving, and a full compliment of stuffed toys just waiting to be won.

(A young girl helping set up with the a massive pink panther on the lookout)

The Phoenix is Australia's newest ride, John Gibson said it has only been seen in Melbourne once before coming to Lismore.

At one ride, a group of girls and boys are charging madly up and down a big slide, in uniform. It turns out they are the children of the show - whose parents own rides and attractions.

They are on a break from schoolwork, "helping check” the rides. 

Tanya Bray, their teacher, stands watching them play and explains, “So these guys don't actually have school holidays as such. They work through the school holidays because some of them aren't necessarily at a physical school each week

“That depends on where the majority of the kids go and when they can attend. So, at the moment, we've got four, but at Redcliffe (North Brisbane), we have up to 15 or 16 kids.”

The curriculum base is via Dubbo Distance Education.

“There's about three of us teachers on different runs, and we move around with the majority of the kids. We set up our little classroom with our gazebo, and they just come from nine till three.

“They have their online lessons with Dubbo, but the rest of the time, we're assisting them doing their work.”

People living this lifestyle are only ever in one town for a couple of weeks. As Tanya says, they split up and go to different shows, so there are no consistent friend groups.

Diesel is finishing off an ice cream, and talks about his nomadic life; “It's really fun. It can be boring because there's usually some kids at the show that you like that aren't there. It's really good because you keep going on free rides.”

Diesel says he doesn’t know anyone in Lismore, but Deanna is familiar with the place. She says she was here last year, and likes “Everything” about Lismore.

The network of families and friends working in this environment appears to be a popular choice with the kids who are looking forward to the show as much as the local kids are.

Locally, 27 students from across the region are volunteering at this year's show, helping prepare the horses, cattle, Fine Arts exhibition, Kid Zone area, and the grounds themselves. The students are from Richmond River, Trinity, Kyogle, St Mary's, and Casino Christian School in Casino.

Speaking of volunteering, if you ❤️ the Elders Lismore Show, and would like to get involved, Mr Gibson says, "We're always looking for volunteers to be involved in working on the grounds or administration. There's so many opportunities here for people to come and get involved."

Mr John Gibson has been the president for 36 years, and he has seen the show grow, "It's completely different to what when I first became president, we had dairy cattle and pigs and all those sort of things. Agriculture was much bigger. Today, the show has still got to evolve, and it's about bringing people together to enjoy what they do."

The 2024 Elders Lismore Show starts at 8:30am tomorrow morning at the Lismore Showground in North Lismore and ends at 9pm on Saturday, October 19.

Parking is available off Dunoon Road for $5 for non-members. If you are coming down Alexandra Parade, keep in mind there will be delays caused by the closure of one lane at the rail bridge.

You can check out all the Elders Lismore Show information on the front page of the Lismore App 2024 Lismore Show.

See you at the show!