The Royal Adelaide Show began in 1840, and the price of getting through the gate has long since left the world of sixpence behind. What started as a public event tied to produce and livestock now runs on rising admission costs, pricier rides, and showbags that keep getting more expensive while families are told to budget harder.
Who Pays for the Spectacle
Royal Adelaide and Horticultural Society archivist Jade Hastings said, “We try to keep costs down as much as we can,” but she also said, “we also try to make sure that the Adelaide Show is a bigger and better event every single year and that we’re providing as much entertainment for families as we can.” That’s the familiar script: keep the machine growing, keep the crowd entertained, and let the costs sort themselves out at the bottom.
Hastings said that in the early 1850s, admission cost “a shilling for an adult, and sixpence for a child.” She said, “You would get a sample bag for about threepence in the 1920s, working up to sort of sixpence for the more expensive ones.” She added, “Unfortunately, as inflation goes on in the world, chocolate bars become more expensive and then the expensive chocolate bar in the showbag makes the showbag more expensive by proxy.” Even now, she said, “[But] you can still get free individual samples at the show even today.”
The ABC archive videos don’t go back quite as far as the 1920s, but they show a world where showbags and rides once seemed more affordable. One image from sideshow alley in the 1960s showed “The Mexican Hat Ride,” which cost 20c. Admission to the show was then likely to set an adult back by 60c. At the time, a loaf of bread cost 18 pence. By the mid-1980s, the price of a Ferris wheel ride had risen to $2, and a loaf of bread cost 54 cents. The numbers tell their own story. The fun got pricier. The crowd kept paying.
Budgeting as Survival
Show-goers interviewed by the ABC described the show as something that now requires planning, limits, and pocket money discipline. Carissa Neate-Lanners said, “It’s good to teach the kids how to save and budget, they’ve brought along some of their own pocket money.” Corey Lanners said, “It is expensive, but we do it once every couple of years.” Hayden Buckham said, “You have to pick and choose what you do and limit how many rides they’re going to go on and not go too crazy on the showbags,” and Jess Buckham said, “There’s definitely lots you can do for free.”
That free part matters. Hastings pointed to main arena events, the wood chopping competition and animal displays as included in the entry price. The show still offers some access without extra payment, but the structure around it keeps pushing families toward spending more if they want the full experience. The gate is only the beginning.
From Produce to Product
Hastings said the early shows were focused completely around produce and livestock. She said, “You get a lot of reports [from the early days] of children at the show enjoying themselves, checking out exhibits of farm machinery and things like that.” She added, “As the colony grew to have a bigger population interested in attending public events, they added a second day to the show — so it was always just one day … [but] then they added a fair day.”
The modern showbag, Hastings said, is an updated version of the sample bag. She said the earliest sample bag the society was aware of was a free bag of coal used as a tester. Businesses then handed out little free product samples to encourage people to test their wares and buy them outside the show. She said, “A lot of it was for medication, or hair products, perfume, things like cornstarch, baby powder.” Vendors later added toys such as paper crowns and yo-yos, and the trend caught on.
The Bertie Beetle remains the most affordable showbag at $5, while the most expensive showbags cost $55 each. That spread says plenty about who gets to enjoy the spectacle without strain and who has to count every dollar before stepping inside. The Royal Adelaide Show has endured since 1840, but endurance doesn’t mean fairness. It just means the price keeps moving, and the people at the bottom keep adjusting.