Today is the final day of the Royal Easter Show for 2023. Welcome to the third and concluding entry on my series, looking back at the 1998 Royal Easter Show, which was the first to be held at Sydney Olympic Park.
Last week focused on the first week of the Easter Show. This week will focus on the second week, including the Easter weekend.
Good Friday - 10 AprilTraditionally the busiest day of the show was affected by heavy rain. Homebush recorded 84mm of rain between 9am and 3pm. An estimated 70 000 attended, down on the projected 85 000. The evening program finished at 7:30pm due to the poor weather.
Organisers were concerned that the show would not turn a profit.
Source: Hoy, A. 1998. "Rain and hospitality wash out Homebush Show profits". The Sydney Morning Herald, April 13: 1.
Easter Saturday - 11 April
A new attendance record for Easter Saturday was set with 120 982 passing through the gates, including members of the International Olympic Committee who were in Sydney to inspect progress ahead of the 2000 Olympic Games.
Source: Bye, C. 1998. "Games chiefs' day at Show". The Sun Herald, April 12: 4.
Easter Sunday - 12 April
A new Easter Sunday attendance record was broken with 118 958 attending, smashing the 1991 record of 101 408. However, there were reports of showbags being sold out along with one hour delays to enter the showbag pavilion.
Source: Trute, P. 1998. "Showbags sell-out disappoints crowd". The Daily Telegraph, April 13: 8.
Easter Monday - 13 April
Traditionally Good Friday would be the busiest day, but Easter Monday saw the largest daily attendance for the sixteen days - An estimated 172 000 passed through the gates.
Source: Trute, P. 1998. "Easter Monday Show record". The Daily Telegraph, April 14: 19.
David Foster 1000th Woodchopping title - 16 April
David Foster secured his 1000th title in the Woodchopping and made the back page of The Daily Telegraph the following day.
Final Day - Saturday 18 April
According to the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, 1998 saw a new all-time attendance record set - 1 262 339.
The previous record was 1 232 413 in 1947.
Carol Smith and her family from Kogarah were presented with gifts from Easter Show organisers to celebrate the milestone.
The only disappointment was that many showbags were already sold out according to The Sun Herald.
Source: Creer, C. 1998. "Smiths lucky number: Stunned family breaks royal record". The Sunday Telegraph, April 19: 23.
Source: Bye, C. "1.23 million smash Easter Show record". The Sun Herald, April 19: 10.
That concludes our three-part series on the 1998 Royal Easter Show. Hope you enjoyed looking back at a historic and record-breaking show.Related Entries
Royal Easter Show Flashback: 1998 (First Show at Sydney Olympic Park) - Part I
Royal Easter Show Flashback: 1998 (First Show at Sydney Olympic Park) - Part II
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