The Launceston Show is back.
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Cancelled due to COVID in 2020 and 2021, the show began a new era on Thursday after moving from its home of two decades at Inveresk.
Thousands piled into Carrick's Quercus Park - just six weeks after Agfest was held at the same site - for the tried and trusted mix of rides, shows, carnival food and animals.
Launceston Show Society chief executive Brian Bennett said crowd numbers were "very strong".
"We're pretty keen to have it here again, there's no doubt about that," he said.
"At Inveresk we were confined to a space, a lot of the ground that was available to us you were limited with what you could do with it - here it's really flexible."
![Launceston Show shines in new location Launceston Show shines in new location](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/H9AemfQ3cDaTrBwqEFxwv/56e5a68e-1f69-4e45-befd-903c5ecb7bdf.jpg/r0_432_4611_3026_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Families weren't turned off by forecast rain.
Armed with umbrellas and coats, showgoers queued for twisty potatoes, raced mini quad bikes, and patted animals.
Lines for showbags remained four or five deep as Benson Trading Company's Greg Anderson reported unprecedented demand for the 'Warheads' showbag.
"It's just gone silly - they just love their Warheads here," Mr Benson said.
"The most popular toy showbag would be Bluey."
Based in Melbourne, Mr Anderson has been coming to Tasmania for 30 years.
He labelled Launceston Show's entertainment program by far the state's best, and was pleasantly surprised by the support shown for the new location.
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"This show society has put so much work into coming out here," he said.
"I'd never been out here before and when I came from Launceston I thought 'it's so far away'.
"[But] the people of Launceston have really supported it - it surprised me immensely."
Mr Bennett was grateful for the turnout after a challenging few years.
"This has really proved how important the show is to the community," he said.
"They've travelled from all over Northern Tasmania to come here, you can see with the crowd it's been well received and we just hope to grow on and prosper from here.
"We want to thank the community for backing us."
The show continues on Friday and Saturday.
FAST FACTS
- What: The Royal Launceston Show
- Where: Quercus Park, Carrick
- When: Friday and Saturday, 9am to 5pm
- Tickets: Available online and at the gate. Some online tickets are cheaper. Children under 5 free.