Alzane Narrain
The Bloem Show 2013, held from 25 April to 4 May, was the second largest show to date. According to Elmarie Prinsloo, Chief Executive Officer for Bloem Show, the show saw a seven precent decrease compared to the show held in 2012. A staggering number of about 122 000 show-goers attended this year’s show over a ten-day period.
“The decline can be attributed to the public holidays and school holidays being less than last year and the bus strike that affected the show during its last days,” explains Prinsloo. However, the show still maintained to break records. “This year’s Bloem Show was a huge success thanks to hundreds of stakeholders, exhibitors, associates, producers, sponsors and visitors. According to our records we also had a record number of 22 800 people who attended the show on Workers’ Day,” says Prinsloo. Show-goers looked forward to many highlights on the agricultural front such as the National Saddle Horse Championships, as well as the shaving of Dolly, the sheep who was shaved for the first time.
Her wool was 40cm long and weighed 21kg. The show did, however, experience some bad publicity when a 38-year-old man was served with a notice to appear in court after an alleged assault at the Bloem Show and the cancellation of the National Sheep Shearing Championships. These incidents, however, did not influence the show at all and activities carried on as normal.
