100 Years since the First Maleny Agricultural Show

In 2023 it will be 100 years since the first Maleny Agricultural Show and to celebrate the event, the Maleny Show Society has produced a commemorative book.

Agricultural shows have long played an important role in the social fabric of country towns, providing hardworking residents a chance to take a day off work to catch up with old friends, engage in some healthy competition through horse events, woodchopping, cooking, sewing, arts and showcasing a vast range of primary produce, poultry and magnificent cattle.

For months leading up to the show, children would look forward to the thrills of sideshow alley while the glamour of the show ball created much excitement, giving folks a rare chance to get dressed up in their finery, dance the night away, and even find romance.

Maleny Agricultural Show – 100 Years, traces the evolution of the Maleny Agricultural Show as it grew in unison with the township of Maleny – the two being firmly intertwined by the flourishing dairy and agricultural industries.

Compiled from old news articles and interviews with show stalwarts, the commemorative book revisits the determination and grit of the town’s pioneers and how, united by passion and vision, they have consistently overcome the hurdles of inclement weather, war, drought and disease.

Scattered throughout are amusing anecdotes about local characters, including one who is rumoured to haunt the pavilion!

A heart-warming lesson in tolerance, ingenuity, camaraderie and the underlying inspiration of the human spirit, the commemorative book acknowledges the hundreds of tireless volunteers who have resolutely made the show happen, year after year, in rail, hail or shine.

Written by Hinterland Times writer, Judy Fredriksen, Maleny Agricultural Show – 100 Years will be on sale at Rosetta Books in late May and will also be available at the Maleny Agricultural Show on June 2 and 3.