Easter in Sydney is when the bush creeps into the western suburbs, country cousins make their annual trip to the big smoke – and caravans of ‘carnies’ come into town.
The travelling workers who run the Royal Easter Show rides, games and other attractions are a colourful part of the annual agricultural carnival and many come from families with generations of history at the event.
They belong to a hard-working, tight community who drive around the country together to entertain others, never stopping long enough in one place to put down permanent roots.
While some followed their parents and grandparents onto the show circuit, others gave the job a go, liked the lifestyle and never left. Their children grow up together and sometimes intermarry, creating further clan links.
Many do not like to be called ‘carnies’, preferring the Australian terms ‘showman’ or ‘showie’ over the American version. Others who don’t mind the word can be reluctant to admit it lest their fellow showies object.
Easter in Sydney is when the bush creeps into the western suburbs, country cousins make their annual trip to the big smoke – and caravans of ‘carnies’ come into the city. Allen Ivory (pictured) did not plan on a life on the show circuit but has been working at shows ‘on and off’ for 30 years
The travelling workers who run the Royal Easter Show rides, games and other attractions are a colourful part of the annual agricultural carnival and many come from families with generations of history at the event. Crossbow shooting gallery operator ‘Lofty’ (pictured) got his first job in the industry on a whim and is now in his thirtieth year working shows
Leonie Osborne does not particularly like the term carnies, and thinks her industry was given a bad name in the past by casual show workers who quickly came and went. Growing up as a small child we were always referred to as showmen or showies,’ she said. ‘People misunderstand our industry’
While some showies followed their parents and grandparents onto the circuit, others gave the job a go, liked the lifestyle and never left. Their children grow up together and sometimes intermarry, creating further clan links. Les and Ann Evans (pictured) run Cosmic Connections. Their grandchildren are the family’s sixth generation showmen, Mrs Evans said.
Elwin Bell, who runs Bell’s Dodgem Cars, is a fourth generation showman. His grandfather Roy Bell ran boxing tents and his mother is from the long-established Maynard circus family. Mr Bell is pictured with sons Roy (right) and Charlie (centre)
One 50-year show veteran was so worried about the controversy about calling showies carnies she would not speak on the record. ‘I use showie – I also use carnie,’ she said.
‘Don’t ask me why but some of them don’t like to be called carnies. A lot of my friends introduce me as a carnie. It is what we are. It doesn’t matter what you call us.’
Daily Mail Australia spoke to a range of show workers at the Olympic Park site in Homebush on Good Friday, which attracted a sold-out crowd of 60,000 visitors. While children enjoyed fairy floss and their parents munched on dagwood dogs, these carnies – or showies – revealed what their job means to them.
‘I walked into a show in Tasmania as a kid,’ pop gun gallery worker Allen Ivory said. ‘I was bored and wanted something to do.’ He began giving rides to children on Yamaha PeeWee 50 motorbikes and worked on dodgem tracks
The hardest part of show life for Mr Ivory was the long days – he can work 13 hours a day when in Sydney. ‘I love Sydney,’ he said. ‘You miss the people when you haven’t seen them for a while.’ As for being called a carnie, he usually uses the terms showman or showie but doesn’t mind. ‘It don’t worry me,’ he said. ‘It’s more an American thing’
ALLEN ‘MOUSEY’ IVORY – 48
Allen Ivory did not plan on a life on the circuit but has been working at shows ‘on and off’ for 30 years.
‘I walked into a show in Tasmania as a kid,’ he said.
‘I was bored and wanted something to do.’
He began giving rides to children on Yamaha PeeWee 50 motorbikes and worked on dodgem tracks.
Over the years Mr Ivory has done the rounds of the shows’ attractions – ‘every ride on the grounds, I reckon’.
When not working the shows the 48-year-old is on his dairy farm in Tasmania where he has two daughters.
‘I only come to the big shows now,’ he said.
‘Once the farm gets busy I’ve got to go home.’
The hardest part of show life for Mr Ivory was the long days – he can work 13 hours a day when in Sydney.
‘I love Sydney,’ he said.
‘You miss the people when you haven’t seen them for a while.’
As for being called a carnie, he usually uses the terms showman or showie but doesn’t mind.
‘It don’t worry me,’ he said.
‘It’s more an American thing.’
Leonie Osborne (pictured) and her family run the Funny Face Clowns sideshow and the clan has been working shows for five generations. Her grandmother was even a snake handler. ‘My dad married a trapeze artist from the circus,’ she said
LEONIE OSBORNE – 64
It wouldn’t be the Sydney Royal Easter Show without children dropping balls into the mouths of turning clown heads.
Leonie Osborne and her family run the Funny Face Clowns sideshow and the clan has been working shows for five generations.
Her grandmother was even a snake handler.
‘My dad married a trapeze artist from the circus,’ she said.
‘My great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents, me and my children. My eldest grandson is 21 and he’s in the same industry.’
The 64-year-old grew up around shows and like many children of showies went to boarding school in her teenage years. Her husband Lewis was a showman and the pair courted long distance.
It wouldn’t be the Sydney Royal Easter Show without children dropping balls into the mouths of turning clown heads
‘He proposed to me when I was working in Adelaide and he was working in Parkes,’ Ms Osborne said.
‘He sent me four telegrams to the post office and I had to open them in sequence or it wouldn’t make any sense.
Eventually Ms Osborne replied with the answer her suitor wanted in her own telegram: ‘Sounds good, all right then.’ The couple married when both were 19 and have been together 45 years.
Ms Osborne does not particularly like the term carnies, and thinks her industry was given a bad name in the past by casual show workers who quickly came and went.
‘Growing up as a small child we were always referred to as showmen or showies,’ she said.
‘People misunderstand our industry.’
Like most other showmen, Elwin Bell loves the travel. ‘You can do what you want,’ he said. Son Roy is happy to be part of the next generation of Bell showmen. ‘It’s all I’ve ever known,’ he said. ‘It’s my whole life.’ Father and son are pictured
THE BELL FAMILY – 5 to 78
Elwin Bell, who runs Bell’s Dodgem Cars, is a fourth generation showman. His grandfather Roy Bell ran boxing tents and his mother is from the long-established Maynard circus family.
The 52-year-old’s parents Elwin Snr, 78, and Sandra, 73, are still part of the business, which also includes his wife Selina and their five children: Laney, 32, Leroy, 28, Elle, 25, Roy, 21 and five-year-old Charlie.
‘It’s our lives,’ Mr Bell said.
‘We love the life. It’s a family business – it’s in all our blood. We’re full-blood showies.’
Like most other showmen, Mr Bell loves the travel.
‘You can do what you want,’ he said.
‘It’s about travelling the country. It’s a big country when you travel the length and breadth. My grandfather was travelling the country before there was bitumen on the roads.
Son Roy is happy to be part of the next generation of Bell showmen.
‘It’s all I’ve ever known,’ he said.
‘It’s my whole life.
‘We work hard but it’s rewarding. You’ve always got your mates and your family around.’
Jason Tilly (pictured) went on the show circuit fulltime when he turned 18 and on Friday was working on the Haunted Hotel ‘one of the only rides made here in Australia’. The Haunted House has two operators, three attendants, and five workers inside ‘scaring people’
JASON TILLY – 50
Jason Tilly was an unemployed youth when he got his first job at Newcastle Show in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.
‘I’ve been working in this business since I was 17,’ the 50-year-old said.
His first role was on the old milk can game. ‘You threw a ball into a can to win a teddy bear.’
Mr Tilley went on the show circuit fulltime when he turned 18 and on Friday was working on the Haunted Hotel – ‘one of the only rides made here in Australia’, he said. The Haunted House has two operators, three attendants, and five workers inside ‘scaring people’.
The show veteran’s favourite part of his job is ‘travelling the country, going from show to show’.
‘Showies’ belong to a hard-working community who drive around the country together to entertain others, never stopping long enough in one place to put down permanent roots. Jason Tilly (pictured) was an unemployed youth when he got his first job at Newcastle Show in the NSW Hunter Valley. ‘I’ve been working in this business since I was 17,’ the 50-year-old said
Mr Tilly works up and down the east coast, up to North Queensland, and across to South and West Australia. ‘It’s the atmosphere, the people you meet, the stories you could tell. It’s a lot of fun. It’s good to see the kids smiling. You can make a lot of people happy’
‘Every week of the year we’re in a different town or a different state,’ he said.
‘I’ve been around the block a lot of times mate.’
Mr Tilly works up and down the east coast, up to North Queensland, and across to South and West Australia.
‘It’s the atmosphere, the people you meet, the stories you could tell. It’s a lot of fun. It’s good to see the kids smiling. You can make a lot of people happy.
‘It’s good to be back in Sydney. This is the first big show since we got back.’
Rain is his least favourite part of the job because it deters customers.
‘It’s not always easy to pay the bills,’ he said.
‘Lofty’ (pictured) started on dodgem cars and spent eight years working rides before he moved onto games. He said the COVID-19 pandemic hit the carnival business hard. ‘It’s been a touch 12 months,’ the 58-year-old said. ‘I got stuck in Victoria when they shut the borders. And as soon as they opened the borders I was gone. I was born in Victoria but I hat the place’
‘LOFTY’ – 58
Crossbow shooting gallery operator ‘Lofty’ got his first job in the industry on a whim and is now in his thirtieth year working shows.
‘I just walked in one day off the street looking for a bit of work, and there you go,’ he said. His first show was in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne.
Lofty started on dodgem cars and spent eight years working rides before he moved onto games. He said the COVID-19 pandemic had hit the carnival business hard.
‘It’s been a tough 12 months,’ the 58-year-old said.
‘I got stuck in Victoria when they shut the borders. And as soon as they opened the borders I was gone. I was born in Victoria but I hate the place.’
Lofty enjoyed visiting different cities and towns but it could become monotonous spending so much time on the road.
‘Sometimes it gets a bit hard but you get used to it, like any job,’ he said. ‘It’s the sort of job you can either handle or you can’t. I like it, obviously.
‘I’ve had a bit of a break but I always come back to it. A lot of showmen have struggled over the last 12 months.’
Donna Wah (pictured) travels as far north as Cairns and over to Darwin. ‘It becomes your lifestyle,’ she said. ‘I love meeting people. When you see a little kid with a smile on their face for a bag of fairy floss it makes your hard work worthwhile’
DONNA WAH – 57
Donna Wah has been with the same family-run company, Golden Way Amusements, serving dagwood dogs and fairy floss for the past 30 years.
‘I met one of the boys, he was working for the same family that I’m still with,’ she said.
‘I joined up, started travelling and I’ve been with them ever since.’
The relationship didn’t last but Ms Wah and her former partner are still with Golden Way on the same circuit.
The 57-year-old’s job takes her as far north as Cairns and over to Darwin.
‘It becomes your lifestyle,’ she said.
Donna Wah (pictured) has been with the same family-run company, Golden Way Amusements, serving dagwood dogs and fairy floss for the past 30 years
Like many, Ms Wah lost work during the pandemic. ‘It’s great to be out of Covid,’ she said. ‘Covid was really hard on everyone. We’re ecstatic that Sydney Show’s back on’
‘I love meeting people. When you see a little kid with a smile on their face for a bag of fairy floss it makes your hard work worthwhile.
‘Being with the same family, they look after you. You become part of the family as well.’
Like many, Ms Wah lost work during the pandemic.
‘It’s great to be out of Covid,’ she said.
‘Covid was really hard on everyone. We’re ecstatic that Sydney Show’s back on.’
Every the saleswoman, she said: ‘And we’re ready at Golden Way canteens to serve everybody.’
Showbag sales girl Olaa Saad has no long family history with the Royal Easter Show to draw on – this is her first year at the event. ‘I’d never even been to an Easter Show,’ the 16-year-old said. ‘I’ve never wanted to come. I’ve been to Luna Park and I thought maybe it’s like that. It’s bigger than I expected’
OLAA SAAD – 16
Showbag sales girl Olaa Saad has no long family history with the Royal Easter Show to draw on – this is her first year at the event.
‘I’d never even been to an Easter Show,’ the 16-year-old said.
‘I’ve never wanted to come. I’ve been to Luna Park and I thought maybe it’s like that. It’s bigger than I expected.’
Ms Saad, who has modelled, left her part-time job on the counter at McDonald’s to concentrate on her Year 11 studies. When her parents suggested she get some work in the school holidays, ‘it was either Macca’s or this’.
Some of her friends had found work at the Show, and Ms Saad followed suit.
‘I have heaps of friends here,’ the Seven Hills student said.
On Friday, Ms Saad was selling show bags for the Country Women’s Association, White Glo, DG Girl and Tilly and Co.
‘It’s only my first day but I love it,’ she said.
‘You get to meet new people here. It’s easy and the customers are really nice.’
Ms Saad had not been able to take any rides, play games or even shop for showbags.
‘I’ve only seen here so far,’ she said.
Asked if she could see herself returning, she said: ‘Definitely. I’ll come again.’
Ann and Les Evans (pictured) run Cosmic Connections, telling fortunes through palmistry, horoscopes and tarot readings. ‘We’ve been working shows for over 50 years,’ Mrs Evans said. ‘We get a lot of people who come back every year to see us’
ANN AND LES EVANS – 66 AND 69
Ann and Les Evans run Cosmic Connections, telling fortunes through palmistry, horoscopes and tarot readings.
‘We’ve been working shows for over 50 years,’ Mrs Evans said.
‘We get a lot of people who come back every year to see us.’
The couple, who use 1980s Apple computers for some of their readings, have been regulars at the Royal Easter Show for 18 years.
‘This stall belonged to family members,’ Mrs Evans said.
‘We’ve just carried on the trend.’
Mrs Evans, 66, and Mr Evans, 69, travel up the east coast to Far North Queensland and over to South Australia, spend most years on the road from February to late November. ‘We follow the sun to Cairns every year,’ she said. Their palm-reading device is pictured
Mrs Evans, 66, and Mr Evans, 69, who travel up the east coast to Far North Queensland and over to South Australia, spend most years on the road from February to late November.
‘We follow the sun to Cairns every year,’ she said.
Their grandchildren are the family’s sixth generation showmen, Mrs Evans said.
The couple has a property in Melbourne where they based themselves for intrastate sightseeing during the worst of the pandemic.
‘We made the most of it,’ Mrs Evans said.
‘Covid for us couldn’t have come at a better time because Les is getting older. That’s the thing about this lifestyle – whatever comes along you’ve got to make the most of it.’
The Royal Easter Show runs between Thursday, April 1 until Monday, April 12. The show is held at Sydney’s Olympic Park at Homebush, about 14km west of the central business district. Gates open daily at 9am and the evening entertainment and fireworks finish at 9pm. Showbag Pavilion closes at 9.30pm and Coca-Cola Carnival stays open until late
