The Murrumbateman Field Days are back this weekend, after not going ahead in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic.
It will be two full days of all things rural, right on the doorstep of the national capital, in Murrumbateman, just north of Canberra.
The field days are at the local recreation grounds - Saturday from 8am to 5pm and Sunday from 8am to 4pm.
The event is hosted by the not-for-profit Murrumbateman Progress Association and its president Greg Weekes was very happy to see the field days finally return, "catering for the entire family".
"Right now, we're all very tired. We've been working very hard but, oh, the support we're getting from the community is just fabulous," Mr Weekes said.
"We've got exhibitors coming from South Australia, Queensland, Victoria and, of course, they haven't had any shows for two years and this year has been very slow to build up, and we're one of the last shows of the year so the anticipation from all the exhibitors and all the local farming community is very high."
As well as commercial stalls, there will be a farm trail for the kids (kind of like a treasure hunt where they have to find specific things and get a stamp as they go), displays of antique farm machinery, performances at 10am and 1pm by champion whip cracker Nathan Griggs, plenty of agricultural equipment to see and lots of food.
"Perfect time to buy a new lawnmower if you need one," Mr Weekes reckons.
The field days, in the past, have attracted 10,000 to 12,000 on the Saturday and between 5000 and 7000 on the Sunday.
Mr Weekes urged everyone to drive carefully to the event, especially in the wake of Thursday's tragic fatal accident on the Barton Highway near Murrumbateman.
"We hope that everyone is very safe on the roads," he said.
"The roads out here are in fairly poor condition, so we hope everyone travels safely and abides by the traffic marshalls and the parking people we have on site."
Tickets need to be bought online at https://bit.ly/3Viiahh or with EFTPOS at the gate. There will be no cash sales of tickets.
Parking is free.
