IN the end, it was probably a fitting celebration.
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The 150th Royal Bathurst Show probably said a lot about life on the land.
Conditions for the show were not ideal and not everything went to plan but, in the end, they got the job done.
The Royal Bathurst Show has come a long way over the past century and a half but still maintains an inextricable link to the land.
That was there to be seen among the many livestock displays over the weekend and also the commercial tractor displays.
It was there in the wool competition, the young farmer competition and the poultry shed.
It was there in the produce displays and the wood-chopping competition.
But perhaps most importantly over the three days just gone, it was there in the display of resilience to keep going during some challenging times.
Few missed the irony of rain finally coming on Friday evening after almost a month of dry conditions across the region but those few drops were the least of the organisers’ concerns.
Much more trying were the regular wind gusts over the weekend that blew clouds of dust through the showground, threatening to overturn display tents and making life uncomfortable for showgoers.
But if anyone was letting all that bother them too much, they certainly weren’t showing it.
Instead, crowds turned out in the thousands to celebrate our region’s biggest annual community event – just as they have done for the past 150 years or so.
And the smiles on the faces of the kids, in particular, were something to behold.
There is an enormous amount of work that goes into preparing the show every year but the weather is the one factor over which the organisers have no control.
They simply hope for the best but take whatever is served up.
So it was a heartening show of support from the general public to turn up as they did across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, giving life to the old saying that the show must go on.
And now the fun and games are over for another year and as the pavilions are emptied and the ride operators pack up and take the travelling carnival onto the next town on the calendar, it’s almost time to start planning for the enormous job of doing it all again next year.
Bring on show number 151.