The 2021 Royal Easter Show in numbers

20th April 2021 | Eativity editors
The 2021 Royal Easter Show in numbers

One of the country’s most famous agricultural shows, the Sydney Royal Easter Show, was a hugely successful event that saw 800,000 people come through the gates over 12 days. After 2020 saw the event cancelled, this year’s turnout has shown just how beloved our ag shows are, as well as highlighting the resilience of our rural and regional communities.

The show, which has broken five attendance records since its relocation from the Moore Park Showground to Sydney Olympic Park, successfully delivered a COVID-safe event, with daily capacity limits dispersing crowds, and not a single case of COVID reported.

Ferdinand the Indian runner duck: the first duck in the Royal Easter Show's history to win Best Bird
Ferdinand the Indian runner duck: the first duck in the show’s history to win Best Bird.

“The show has provided an opportunity for our farmers and Sydneysiders to come together safely and celebrate everything we know and love about rural Australia: farmers, food and family fun,” says Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS) General Manager of the Sydney Royal Easter Show and Agriculture, Murray Wilton.

“The talent showcased this year has been outstanding, with some historic wins, including an Indian runner duck named Ferdinand being named Best Bird in Show. It’s the first time a waterfowl has won the coveted title in the 199-year history of the RAS.”

Rural and regional students from across NSW prepared, cooked and served a range of local treats
Rural and regional students from across NSW prepared, cooked and served a range of local treats.

Supporting regional communities

The Big Bush BBQ raised more than $30,000 for the 12 local show societies that manned the stand over the show’s 12 days. The Rural Students’ Cafe also proved to be a big hit, providing students from around NSW with the opportunity to develop hospitality skills and raise funds. The students sold more than 2800 coffees and teas, 3000 ice teas and 1800 tasting plates for their school programs.

The RAS Foundation’s raffle of donated hay and sale of RAS ribbon rugs (see below) raised $120,000. This will be directed back to regional communities.

Little Hands on the Land: our next generation of farmers got their hands dirty at the Royal Easter Show
Little Hands on the Land: our next generation of farmers got their hands dirty.

Little learners

The show also continued its tradition of providing fun opportunities and educational experiences for people of all ages. Little Hands on the Land, a pint-sized working farm, welcomed more than 40,000 children through its gates.

2020 Royal Easter Show ribbons were presented at the 2021 event
A reminder of the “show that didn’t happen”: Royal Ribbon Rugs raised funds for the RAS Foundation.

Sydney royal ribbons

More than 29,000 Sydney Royal Easter Show awards and prizes and 3500 first-place ribbons were presented throughout the event. More than 12km of ribbons made but not used for the 2020 show were sewn into unique rugs and sold at the event, with proceeds going towards the purchase of medical supplies and equipment for regional hospitals.

Rides and face paint equals happy little show-goers
Rides and face paint equals happy little show-goers.

Rides, showbags and parades

The Bandy & Johnson Working Draft Horse Team travelled around GIANTS Stadium enough times to travel from Sydney City to Sydney Olympic Park, and the Nickelodeon Street Parade travelled around the Showground enough times to reach Newcastle from Sydney.

Almost every show-goer loves a showbag and a ride. This was evidenced by a whopping 2.1 million unique ride experiences being taken and 1.8 million showbags purchased.

Bacon on a Stick was a sell-out success at the 2021 Royal Easter Show
Bacon on a stick? Yes. Yes please.

Delicious delights

It was one of the hottest new foods at the Royal Easter Show this year. Bacon on a Stick did so well that the amount of bacon sold could wrap around the entirety of the Sydney Showground. The other food highlights for 2021 were:

41,908 scones baked by the Country Women’s Association
29,000 tonnes of potatoes used for Chips on a Stick
3 tonnes of Dagwood Dogs sold
6600 corn on the cob sold
9000 sticks of fairy floss sold
2 tonnes of cheese used for Cheese on a Stick
10 pallets of turkey legs used
21 pallets of lemons used for lemonade
6912 litres of milk milked at the Riverina Fresh Working Dairy