We love the Show!  Check out all our photo’s from the Royal Melbourne Show 2016.

When: 17-27 September 2016, 10am – 9pm daily

Where: Melbourne Showgrounds, Flemington

Cost: Buy tickets online and save 10%, adults $35, child $17 (children 4 and under FREE)

Every year as the kids get older visiting the show gets easier.  This year Charlie is 8 and he managed the full day (10.15am – 5.15pm) with barely a grizzle.  We walked lots, we saw things he wasn’t that interested in (as well as the stuff he was hanging to see), we made him wait until at least 1.30pm before we got his main showbag for the day (The Greatest Showbag on Earth).  Overall he was at an age where he had enough patience and stamina to both last the day and let everyone have a turn at doing stuff they wanted to do/see.  It was an awesome day – and to date my favourite visit with the kids.

So if you’re planning your first ever visit to the show and you have young kids I would not have to high an expectation of seeing everything (we certainly didn’t see everything).  Also there are pros and cons to consider when you are visiting in the daytime or visiting in the evening….

• Evening is discounted, but most of the young kids activities and attractions are packed up for the day by 6pm – think baby animals (7pm), digging for veggies (6pm), patting pigs (6pm), demonstrations with dogs (5pm)/horses (6pm) for more information click here.
• In the evening (and also week 2 onwards) the animal judging is finished for the day – so if you want to see the prize winning bulls and dogs you need to go during the daytime

This year we arrived by train and our first stop was the Arts & Crafts Pavilion, followed by the Livestock Pavilion – we then made an anti-clockwise journey, grabbing lunch from the Woolworths Fresh Food Pavilion (and eating it at the Herald Sun Arena while watching the 1.15pm Freestyle Motocross Stunt Show) and so on.

This year we packed snacks and water to bring with us.  I had given the kids $25 each to spend on showbags (they also had some pocket money) and on top of that we got some food for lunch, ice-creams, had a ride and managed to entertain ourselves with all the free stuff – so successfully that no-one pestered me for more things and we (not including tickets) spent $150 (two kids and myself; I am not including my cousin in this calculation because she managed to sit in a $9000 massage chair and may – or may not – take up the “show special”).

So what’s your favourite Show memory?  Is it the animals?  Is it the rides?  Is it the entertainment?  Is it the food?  Is it the showbags?  Is it the sensory overload?  I love seeing the animal judging – so going first week is a must for me.  I know for Charlie it’s the showbags and the Motocross… and Immi, maybe the thrill is one day winning a giant toy (it happened about 5 years ago and she’s still hanging out in hope).