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It was late into the night as Andrea Cross’ husband was still cutting out hundreds of personalised timber table decorations that she joked it was a miracle she’s still married. The woman on a mission was out to pull off an event to remember and one that would bring in enough dollars to be able to host the Grand Annual Horsham Show in September 2021.
While the 2020 Horsham Show made records for being the first virtual agricultural show in Victoria, it was a labour of love and unfortunately, the annual show couldn’t return on love alone. The 150km Feast proved to be just what the small Victorian community, and the show society needed, with almost $25,000 rolling in.
Farmers, agriculturalists and producers within 150 kilometres got involved and all 150 tickets were snapped up immediately. In fact, it was so popular that Andrea, executive administrator of the Horsham Show Society, took a deep breath, rallied the volunteer troops and announced they’d run two nights earlier this year.
More than 300 people enjoyed the evenings under the stars in an outdoor dining room built from 150 square hay bales with 10 metre high walls. Locally produced food and wine was served over five courses, live music rang out and the good times continued long into the night.
“It was amazing. We had so many volunteers, including one gentleman who’s 91 who came in at seven o'clock, and I said, ‘You can stay for one hour’,” Andrea recalls.
“He stayed until midnight with the others, who were of average age of 85, and they had the best night. They laughed and carried on like pork chops in the background. It was just a wonderful experience.”
In a regional community hit hard by COVID, the 150km Feast not only lifted spirits, it gave the Horsham Show Society the boost it needed to get back on its feet.
“We needed to survive just like everyone else and had to come out strongly,” Andrea says.
“As an agricultural organisation we’re intrinsically connected to our broader community and our events reflect our culture and society. What better way to show this off than to showcase the food we grow?”
Andrea’s certainly no stranger to rolling up the sleeves and pitching in to help her local community. She bravely led the show committee through its first virtual show and navigated the incredible 500 entries received.
The show reached more than 34,000 people and received over 25,000 post engagements - with one video even going global. Most importantly, Andrea says it gave her own community, and thousands of people across the state, a slice of happiness in a time when it was most needed.
“It was about connecting to our community, to our broader community, and I'm here today still talking about it. That just blows my mind, that this is still going on.”
