My pictorial of the Brookfield Show 2019 is pretty much in the order of how I wandered around this country-style event.  Although the local landowners are on acreage, the suburb of Brookfield, Queensland, is no longer strictly a farming district nor agricultural growing region.

Yet every year the Brookfield Show comes along and every year thousands of residents flock through the old wooden gates, keen to sample what is known as Brisbane’s Biggest Little Country Show.

I will loosely describe my photos by what they do and don’t feature:

• General store, main entrances and show arena.
• Inside Brookfield Hall built 1871 housing the Needlework and Craft Sections.
• Scarecrows on the way to the Cake Pavilion and cupcake winners.
• Side view of the main arena and medieval-looking food tents.
• Prize-winning flower displays and trays of prize-winning fruit and vegetables.
• Sideshow alley with a ride pumped up and down at a frightening pace.
• This year I didn’t photograph the sweet hand-spun pink fairy floss on a stick.
• Inside Pioneer Cottage museum; outside (not shown) log hand-sawing demo.
• Side view of the traditional Country Women’s Association tea room.
• Woodwork Pavilion (not shown) to racing pigs having a break between gigs.
• I purchased a framed mixed media artwork (shown below) from Art Pavilion.
• Detoured the snake handling demonstration (not shown!)
• Had a rest in the ‘grandstand’ before heading home.
• The newspapers which highlight features of the show.

Evening events included live music in the Members’ Bar (aka pub) and ringside nighttime spectaculars featured bucking broncos and fireworks.

The Brookfield Show was the forerunner of our State’s grandest show The Royal National Exhibition but this year I didn’t see (or couldn’t find) any farm animals on Sunday except showjumping horses and pig racing.  Perhaps other contenders had already been judged and gone home, taking their ribbons with them.

Nowadays it’s difficult to take photos at events especially where there are children.  I am mindful of safety and privacy standards.  Usually I wait until everyone has gone out-of-frame before I snap an image.  Sometimes this makes it look like the place is empty!

Brookfield Show is held over three days in May and, as the legend goes, it often rains but this year the autumn weather in Brookfield was delightfully warm and sunny.

♥ Gretchen Bernet-Ward