About 1,200 people went through the gates of Mungindi Showground on Saturday and Sunday (August 11 and 12) for the 120^th annual Mungindi Show.

Mungindi Show president Stacey Garsed was thrilled with this result and said numbers were up from last year, despite the drought.

“Our bar was up, our gate was up,” she said.

“It was really positive considering we had to cancel the stock events this year.

“I’m really happy considering the tough year and the obstacles we faced. It was a really good outcome.”

While the windy weather wasn’t ideal, Ms Garsed said the two days were jam-packed with action-filled events that the whole community enjoyed.

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“The lawnmower races were a big attraction, they were a real crowd-puller,” Ms Garsed said. 

“We had four souped-up mowers. People were excited to see them.

“The demolition derby was another crowd-puller. People loved that. Some of our local police officers entered and painted a car as a mock police car. It was good to see them get involved in the spirit of it.”

The helicopter lolly drop was again popular with the younger members of the crowd, as were the appearances of Peppa Pig and Fireman Sam.

Ms Garsed said the horse ring events were also good considering the year, with a similar number of entries to last year.

There were an impressive 21 entries in the cross-saw woodchop challenge and some good entries in the human tractor pull.

The Poets Breakfast with this year’s guest Marco Gilori was a great way to kick off the action on Sunday, with a special appearance made by Moree poet Murray Hartin.

Following that was the pet parade, billy boiling competition and grain shovelling, making it a “really good day” according to Ms Garsed.

And, as always, the pavilion was looking “beautiful”.

“We were really happy with the pavilion entries this year; they weren’t down on last year,” she said.

“The ladies did a brilliant job which is a real credit to them and a credit to all the people who put entries in.”

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall attended the show on Saturday to award life membership to two men instrumental to the show’s woodchop event – Ron Greentree who has sponsored the event since it began 33 years ago and now runs it each year; and woodchopper Jimmy Barker who has been competing in the Mungindi event since its inception.

“Well done to president Stacey Garsed and the Mungindi Show Society on organising an outstanding 120th annual show this weekend,” Mr Marshall said.

“Despite the drought, the show was brilliant, with a huge schedule of events and activities for everyone. Packed pavilions with local arts and produce, woodchop, utes, mowers, horses, bikes and more.

“Country shows are a fundamental part of the social fabric of our communities. It was such an enjoyable day [on Saturday]. Well done to all!”

Ms Garsed said the committee’s decision to push ahead with the show, despite the challenges of the drought, paid off.

“The motive behind keeping it running was to give everyone the opportunity to come together and forget about [the drought],” she said.

“It was important to me to push ahead and hope for the best and it worked.

“Everybody could catch up and have a beer or a laugh. It helps with the mental health side of things too.

“It was a really good weekend; definitely worthwhile having it. We’ve got an amazing network of volunteers who all know what they’ve got to do and love the show. It makes life really easy.

“It was lots of fun. Everyone enjoyed themselves and we had lots of positive feedback.”