Between 60 and 80 people have helped out with setting up tents and pickets each day in the week running up to the show, with just a few odds and ends left to sort.
‘The local community has come together and we’ve got most of the big jobs cracked now,’ said Mr Mayor.
‘We’ve had plenty of helpers which has been really appreciated.
‘It’s great to see some old faces and we’ve got some new faces – who are starting to look old now after a couple of days.’
This year’s preparation has involved some additional maintenance tasks.
‘We’ve been in this field for five weeks now.
‘We’ve put a main drain connection in, we’ve done new taps in different places, and a few more electric points as well as some other infrastructure.’
The team also built some more picnic benches for the show. ‘It’s the sort of tasks that should save us time in the future.’
To thank volunteers for their hard work, the committee has introduced ‘The Cow Udder Devotion Award’, presented by Mr Mayor himself, or ‘Cow’ as he is known to friends.
The first recipients of the award were joint winners Sean Sargeant, Ed Jagusinski, and Peter Le Poidevin.
Mr Mayor said setting up was his favourite part of the show. ‘It ends up a bit like a family around here.’
Starting 10am tomorrow, the show is set to feature some returning entertainers, including headliners Ridgeside Little Nippers dog racing, the Van Buren magic show, and the popular monster truck show featuring Big Pete and the Grim Reaper.
‘The monster trucks are always a big pull. They do some jumps where they crush a couple of cars and pull a car into two like a tug of war, which the audience enjoy.’
There will also be mini monster trucks for visitors to get in on the action and take a ride themselves.
The Normandy Market will be among this year’s vendors, set to arrive on the boat and set up their stall today, alongside most of the show’s attractions coming over from the UK.
Mr Mayor also managed to secure the North Show fun fair at this year’s West Show and is keen to fill the field with ever more exciting attractions.
He is expecting to sell around 16,000 tickets for the show.
‘It’s going to be a really good one this year.’
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