Growing up in Sydney, one of my favourite events of the year has always been the Sydney Royal Easter Show. As a kid, teenager and adult, I’ve always found the show to be such a fun day out that I’ve been crazy excited to take Cheese this year for the very first time.
I recently had the opportunity to attend the official showbag reveal, a wonderful annual event that the show puts on for kids from Royal Far West and Westmead Children’s Hospitals. As the showbags for each year’s show are revealed, these kids are able to test out the showbags (AKA have the best day ever with a gazilion free toys). With a record 349 showbags available this year, there was a showbag for every interest that the kids might have, and each kid had a super hard decision choosing their favourites.
The Easter Show crew went all out for the event, with a fantastic face painter (what do you think of Cheese’s rainbow tiger?) and expert balloon artist to entertain the kids before the main event, and life-sized beloved characters such as My Little Ponies, Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to really wow the kids.
The showbags were all lain out for the kids to walk around and check out. It was an overwhelming display and experience for the kids (and for the adults!).
If you’re worried that a trip to the showbag pavilion will set you back a lot of cash, you’ll be happy to hear that 136 of the bags are $10 or under, including the Blinky Bill and Hillier’s Flip the Treefrog showbags for just $1 each. Old favourites like Bertie Beetle are there too, as are many newcomers, such as Frozen, which is tipped to be a hot showbag this year.
Cheese’s favourites were the Dorothy The Dinosaur, Sofia The First and Disney Princesses bags. The Sofia and Princesses bags contained some great dress up items, and the Dorothy one has a really cute umbrella that’s sure to get a lot of use.
Personally I would have loved the Darrel Lea showbags – traditional ones I’ve been buying to share with my parents since I was a kid. I also thought the Wiggles showbag looked adorable and good value, with a full set of musical instruments.
After the showbags were well and truly tested, we all came back downstairs to have some food and, for the kids, to play with the amazing characters who followed.
The showbag viewing was amazing, and the whole experience was upped to the next level with the fantastic entertainment. The kids had so much fun posing for photos with the characters and going back for 2nd balloons from the amazing balloon guy who seemed to thrive on being asked to make the impossible come true. He made ELSA out of balloons for Cheese. Seriously expert level balloonmanship.
When I asked Cheese what her favourite part of the morning was, she said it was meeting the My Little Ponies. This whole fantastic event really epitomised the Easter Show for me. Surprising, exciting and magical.
Cheese and I were both blown away with the event, and felt so honoured to have been invited to attend.
Head to the Sydney Royal Easter Show for your own magical day out. The Easter Show runs from Thursday 26 March to Wednesday 8 April, 2015, at Sydney Olympic Park. Book your family tickets before midnight March 16 for a discounted rate of $99.50 (includes return public transport).
Linking up with Bron.
Oh how exciting!! We went to the Royal Melb Show last Sept as guests and loved it! Showbags have certainly improved and we’ll be attending the Melb Show again this year for sure.
They sure have improved since when I was a kid! How was the Melbourne Show? Is it similar Jody?
We love the Easter show …thanks for the reminder to get my early bird tix .
Welcome! 😉 Glad it’s on your calendar now too!
OMG my girl would lose her sh*t for that Pepa Pig swag!! What an awesome day for your little one!
She’d had such a tough week before this, it was so great to give her a fun day out. We basically never have opportunities like this!
I’ve lived in Sydney for almost 7 years and have never been. Being a big kid myself, I think it would be worth it just for the show bag! I love it Disney, Darrell Lea and My Little Ponies all in one place – just dreamy! Looks like you both had a bag-tastic day!
Thanks Sammie! What, never been?! Dooooo it! I love the animal nursery and the art displays – sometimes I enter my photography in their competitions.
Oh my gosh – talk about kid heaven. I have to admit I do love a good showbag and I have such awesome memories of being a kid and going to buy our showbags before sitting down in the stadium to watch the fireworks. xx
I have similar memories Sonia – how much of a highlight of the year was it?! Thank you for dropping by 🙂 xx
I’m surprised the showbag displays remained intact with the kids all looking and discovering them!
Wow! That monkey balloon is amazing!
The kids were so well behaved Ingrid! I thought it would be a mad house but the kids didn’t touch anything except the bags they wanted to take home.
Wow, it all looks very tempting! I absolutely love showbags, and would love to take my big kids along one year – they will be nearly 6 and 3 years. After seeing the spread, this year might be the first! Glad you had fun, it looks brilliant!
Oohh do it Laney! There is so much for little kids. I’m planning on the animal walk for one, and they have a lot more stuff specifically for kids now too – I don’t mean the rides either.
I had no idea they even did this! But it’s awesome! I can’t get over how cool the face painting is. x
I know! I want to hire her for parties (then realised I probably couldn’t afford it, ha!). Thanks for dropping by Bron 🙂
Looks like great fun! How awesome that you got to check out the showbags before the big day – that will make your life easier when heading to the showbag pavilion! I took my girls to the Royal Melbourne Show last year, we hadn’t been in a few years and it was Miss 5’s first experience and she loved it! Have a great time!
We were so lucky Erika, and yes my daughter has earmarked the ones she wants when we go back! Is the Melb show similar to the Sydney one?
What a great opportunity for Chelsea to get a sneak peak! A trip to the royal show is never complete without a Bertie Beetle bag!
So true Hayley! I’ll be nabbing myself a Bertie Beetle bag when we go back 😉
What a fun day out. I haven’t been to the show for years and I remember the showbag pavilion being so HUGE. I am tossing up whether to take my kids this year or not. Jx
How old are they Jess? Do it! The whole experience is so fun, and you can always avoid the showbags ….
They are some fancy balloons by the balloon man! Impressed! 🙂
Thanks for dropping by @karinogrady:disqus! I was so impressed I’m thinking of hiring him!