THE Royal Melbourne Show's changing dates could impact the Wimmera season from 2021.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Melbourne show will take place in October from 2021 - breaking its long-established custom of hosting the show in September.
The new dates would coincide with shows in Murtoa and St Arnaud. The Horsham Open Horse Day would also overlap under the new proposal.
Murtoa show committee member Claire Bibby said the committee was yet to discuss the matter.
"It will affect not only the Murtoa show. There are a list of shows that will be affected - especially the horse events and people wanting to compete in the Wimmera circuit. The overlap is going to create few headaches, I would imagine," she said.
Ms Bibby said the Murtoa show - which runs during the Murtoa Big Weekend - was about bringing people back to the town.
"It's going to have a huge affect on different aspects - not only the shows and the horses, but people wanting to travel back to our communities," she said.
Northern Grampians Shire mayor Kevin Erwin said the Melbourne show wouldn't exist without country people.
"It will have some impact - perhaps on the animals and the availability of side shows - they are fairly costly," he said.
"Anything that puts pressures on the country shows is disappointing, because they do struggle to make ends meet."
Cr Erwin said the St Arnaud Show was known for its horse events, and the impact on horse events from the changes to the Melbourne show was concerning.
"They had a clash with a horse show in Werribee one year and that severely impacted the numbers they got there," he said.
Wimmera Agricultural Society Association president Darren Maddern is also a Victorian Agricultural Shows board member.
He said Melbourne show board members had heard concerns regarding the impact on rural shows.
He said the Galloway and other horse events would occur during the first week of the Melbourne show under its new date format.
"That would mean they all would be finished by the normal time. The numbers, horse-wise, shouldn't affect the Wimmera run much," he said.
Mr Maddern said 90 per cent of people who attended Wimmera shows did not attend the Melbourne show.
"The only thing that could impact the show, is if a local show has someone that takes their horses to the Melbourne Show," he said.
Mr Maddern said changing show dates in the Wimmera would be problematic.
"The majority of the shows have shared facilities with cricket and football clubs. There's not many independent showgrounds - there's only two or three in the Wimmera. It's very hard to throw 16 shows and change dates to fit in with community calendars," he said.
Mr Maddern said the Wimmera committee would discuss the matter at a meeting in Horsham on August 16.
While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox twice weekly from the Wimmera Mail-Times. To make sure you're up-to-date with all the news from across the Wimmera, sign up below.