Warm weather attracts visitors to Elmore Field Days

THE clouds parted and the sun came out for the last day of the Elmore Field Days, giving the event its biggest and best day of the week.

Public relations officer John Giffin said the arrival of the fine, warm weather on Thursday made up for the inclement conditions of the previous two days.

He said the event attracted about 35,000 visitors over the course of the three days, a figure on par with previous years.

Thursday was not a record-breaking crowd, he said, but the clear skies meant they did receive an above-average number of visitors for the final day of the event.

“We’re very happy with attendance and thankful for the patience of exhibitors under trying circumstances, with the wet weather… and we look forward to seeing them next year,” Mr Giffin said.

Exhibitors and stallholders told a similar story.

“It was very hard the first two days, but today’s been very good,” YTO Tractors manager Les Clarke said on Thursday.

Mr Clarke said agricultural field days were important for businesses in the agricultural sector to connect with potential customers and market themselves.

“They’re very important as far as being able to present the tractor to the customer, otherwise all they ever see is a picture in a magazine,” Mr Clarke said.

“We’ve found even if you don’t sell anything at a field day, you still have to be there for the customer to have a look.”

For the field days’ ice cream sellers, the sun could not have come soon enough.

Roberto Ocampo of Natura Ice Cream’s travelled from Hahndorf in South Australia for the event.

The wet weather deterred him from attending the first day of the show, but he said even on Wednesday he sold very little.

Thursday was a very different experience and shortly before 3pm, Mr Ocampo believed he had served close to 1000 people.

Mr Giffin said organisers would now begin the clean-up, which, after all the rain, could take months.