HISTORY


How did it all begin? Well, it’s a tale of two Bills!

It all started over a beer at the Clare Castle Hotel in Kapunda.

It was late 1998, when Bill Adams, (then Secretary of Kapunda Harness Racing Club), met an unusually forlorn Bill O’Brien (then Local Council Tourism Officer). Wearing his Tourism hat, Bill O had just attended a community meeting at Freeling, (the second of its kind), to discuss with residents the possibility of having a Field Day as part of a Council driven week of attractions in the Council area.

Agfair founder, Rob Kirkpatrick from Broken Hill addressed the meeting. Discussions followed, however problems foreseen, such as lack of a suitable venue or manpower, meant there was no commitment to the idea. On hearing this Bill Adams said "Don’t worry Bill, the Kapunda Harness Racing Club (KHRC) will run the event".

In April 1999 the KHRC ran the first event, a Field Day over two days, entitled "South Australian Agricultural Trade Fair", using Dutton Park Oval, its surrounds and part of the Kapunda Harness Racing Club track, grounds and car park.

That Fair attracted enormous entries, but the haphazard layout was a nightmare. Successful, yes, but the need to consolidate the Fair onto the trotting complex was apparent.

The plan became, to run the fair every two years, alternating with Broken Hill. Now the real hard work was to begin.

  • Firstly the creek through the trotting track had to be piped and backfilled. Hundreds of tons of soil were brought in, partly to top-dress some of the lower ground and to cover the piping.
  • A mains-water driven irrigation system for the 10-acre inner area was installed, and seeding the 10-acres took place in Feb 2001, in readiness for the April 2001 event.
  • Underground power was installed and the "home-straight" wired for the caterers sites.
  • HRC Members’ borrowing, funded the well over $100,000 upgrade.

The rest is history. Each successive Fair bettered the previous one, until April 2007 when the heavens opened up and dumped over four wonderful inches of opening rain. Although it halved the usual crowd, seeing the farmers smile after the drought, made it all worthwhile.

And it’s on again in 2010.

WRITE IT DOWN - Friday and Saturday the 16th &17th April 2010.

And, to the two Bills, Adams and O’Brien, our thanks.

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