Mudgee Show

The date of the first Mudgee Show, among the earliest west of the Great Dividing Range, is uncertain. One account places it in April 1843 at Robertson Park, while a more likely origin is 1846, when the Pastoral and Agricultural Association first met on the Market Reserve. Shows were later held at “Love’s Paddock,” before the present showground south of the railway was dedicated around 1890. For a time, rival societies operated, until the current Agricultural, Pastoral, Horticultural and Industrial Association held its first unified show in 1883. Early shows featured large entries of Clydesdale horses, ploughing contests and dairy cattle, with exhibitors arriving by horse-drawn transport and camping on site. The showground remained under Lands Department trusteeship until 1980, when Mudgee Shire Council assumed control with a representative management committee.