by Greg Martin

All roads – well , both of ‘ em , Blacktown and Windsor Roads – lead to Hawkesbury Showground on April 28-29-30 for the 136th Hawkesbury District Agricultural Society Show .

The bulk of the patrons who attend the show – the second biggest in the state after the Royal Easter Show – will arrive by vehicles , while a growing number of attendees will be conveyed to and from by rail .

“ Last year we believe just on 25 per cent of our visitors availed themselves of the easy passage by train and we wouldn ’ t be surprised if even more this year adhere to the “ relax by rail ” method of getting here ,” said HDAS secretary , Andrea Roth . “ Arriving my rail avoids any heavy traffic on the roads or congestion while entering and exiting the car parks .

“ Not that arriving by vehicle for the free parking will be all that tedious , as our staff will make entry and exit as seamless as possible for patrons .

“ But arriving and departing by rail is as simple as alighting at Clarendon Railway Station and strolling 50 or so metres to Entry Gate 1 where , once through the gates you are immediately assailed by all the action .”

Andrea said that trains arrive every 30 minutes from both the Richmond and Blacktown ends of Clarendon Station and added that CityRail was putting on an additional service from Seven Hills which will operate every hour .

For those driving to the showground along Windsor Street , access is across the railway lines at Clarendon , while access from Blacktown Road is the driveway opposite Richmond TAFE entrance .

Ok , you have arrived – so let the show begin .

And what a show HDAS has organised for the 2023 extravaganza !

As well as the plethora of regular events there are additional highlights which are sure to entertain all ages .

• The Holden versus Ford Showdown in which V8 Utes from both renowned camps will battle for supremacy on Friday and Saturday nights and at lunchtime on Sunday .

• The Dinkum Dinosaur Display , featuring puppetry and life-ish sized dinosaurs .

• Wheelie Bin Derby with races for all ages . There ’ s Open and Junior events on Friday and Saturday nights . There will be four Open heats and a final each night , with heat winners collecting $ 100 and the winner of the final , $ 500 . Juniors will compete in various age groups from 8-10 years through to 15-16 years . The winning kids will each pick up cash prizes .

Always a feature at the show is the wood chopping events .

The ladies will compete on Friday night while the men wield their axes on Saturday and Sunday . The feature event on the program will be on Saturday night with the Raw Chop Challenge , which

brings together the six best axe men at the show . Who loves the fireworks ? Of course , we all do , and they will be lighting up the sky from 9pm each Friday and Saturday night .

Music may well soothe , but it also gets everybody up and bopping all day on the main stage .

The highlight of the very first Hawkesbury District Agricultural Society Show in 1845 was a ploughing competition which attracted 29 gun teams . There ’ s no ploughing event at this year ’ s show but the attractions on offer will ensure many thousands of showgoers will be ploughing through the entry gates .

And for those with their fair share of talent , there are big prizes up for grabs in the Dance Challenge which will be held on Friday and Saturday nights at 6.30pm and 8.30pm .

So , slip on those dancing shoes and trip the light fantastic onto Hawkesbury Showground for three days of fun and frolics .