Showgrounds get back into shape

While November’s huge Vanfest music festival was a great event, the combination of heavy rainfall and thousands of dancing feet left the showground oval a mess. 

“The weather was just bad luck,” Mr Perry said.

“It didn’t spoil the event, but it was very hard on the horse arena.”

Mr Perry said show committee members and other volunteers had put hours into restoring the grounds to the tip-top condition required for the showjumping events at the annual show in September. 

“We got a ute-load of cans, thongs, sunglasses and ponchos just in a pick-up,” he said. “After council ripped it we got another half ute-load.”

The ground has since been levelled and sown with new grass seeds. 

“Once it was seeded, Tim Fahey put hours and hours into irrigating it to get the grasses established before the winter,” Mr Perry said. 

A big thank you is owed everyone who helped with the work, which will ensure the Forbes Show can host a great event again this coming spring.

“There were 350 showjumpers alone last year,” Mr Perry said.

“A big percentage of horses travel and we have to provide a satisfactory jumping arena for them to keep coming back.

“We have one of the best show-jumping areas west of the blue mountains. 

“We can’t afford not to have the area in tip top shape.”