New rides, acts give Show ageless appeal
It may be grand final day but Perth Royal Show organisers are confident the turnstiles will be as busy as ever for today's opening.
Spokeswoman Maryanne Shaddick said up to 60,000 people were expected at Claremont Showground for the first of eight days of rides, stalls and exhibitions.
"It's a long weekend and the start of the school holidays," she said. "We traditionally have big crowds on these days.
"There's a lot of excitement around the opening and we're still expecting the numbers we would normally get."
For those torn between the AFL grand final and the show, the Dockers will be live on a big screen and organisers promised a "celebratory atmosphere".
Ms Shaddick said early ticket sales were strong.
The most popular attractions are expected to be the headline entertainment events such as Ozrocketman and Australia's Got Talent beatboxer Genesis, which have cost organisers $1 million to bring to the show.
Four Peppa Pig and George shows at the entertainment theatre were expected to draw 1600 people a day. "We're expecting that to be at capacity," Ms Shaddick said.
Three new rides have been added and were previewed with three Show regulars yesterday by a group of competition winners and The Weekend West.
The screams of excitement from the group of about 30 thrillseekers were replaced with silence by the end of the trial, suggesting this area of the Show is best avoided by those with a weak stomach or perhaps experienced in moderation.
Of the exhibitions, the IGA Cooking with Kids stall, where children can cook their own meals and learn where their food comes from, is expected to draw one of the biggest crowds.
The Show bags are also expected to be popular again this year.
There are 295 types of Show bag on sale, ranging in price from $1 for a Blinky Bill bag to $280 for a Jean Pierre Sancho Macaron bag.
About 2000 volunteers will be at the Showground during show week.
Upside down, the only way to travel. Picture: Iain Gillespie/The West Australian
The Weather Bureau forecast a cloudy start to the Show and afternoon showers on Sunday that are forecast to continue on Monday morning.
But the bureau's John Relf said the weather would improve during the week, with the clouds clearing and the temperature rising to up to 25C on Wednesday.
"It's really cracking weather from Tuesday onwards," he said.
