The Sydney Showground has recently hosted Equitana Sydney, one of the largest Equine event in the Southern Hemisphere that was held from 10-13 November and attracted around 50,000 visitors who enjoyed four days of world-class competition, equine entertainment, exhibition and education.

The Sydney Showground provided Equitana with facilities recquired to host the Equestrian Australia Grand Final, Dressage, Showjumping, Eventing, Cutting, Reining and Campdrafting competitions

Spread over 14 indoor and outdoor venues, Equitana covered 60,000 square metres of the Sydney Showground site. This included the impressive transformation of The Dome into a world class indoor sand arena, complete with giant viewing screens and seating capacity for 5,000.

“Sydney Showground has been extremely cooperative in delivering all of our requirements to enable us put on a world class event for our exhibitors, competitors and visitors,” said Rod Lockwood, managing director, Definitive Events.

“The Showground, in delivering Equitana, has proven itself to be one of Australia’s best multipurpose venues. We have proven the venue can adapt to events such as this and we’re thrilled that the industry has accepted Sydney Showground as the future home of Australia’s premier equine event,” said Lockwood.

An indoor multipurpose arena and a series of display areas were created by using three hundred cubic metres of sawdust and 3,000 tonnes of soil that were transported into The Dome and Exhibition Halls.

The Exhibition Halls, Southee and Badgery Pavilions were home to 350 exhibiting companies selling a range of Equine products and services. The Showground was home to 250 purpose built stables and exercise yards which accommodated 500 horses and 100 head of cattle over the course of the event.

Peter King, Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS) Chief Executive, said the RAS has worked hard with Definitive Events for a number of years, in conjunction with groups such as the Equestrian Australia, to bring Equitana to Sydney for the first time.

“Equitana has reinforced that Sydney Showground is the major event hub of Sydney. We are recognised as a venue that hosts some of Australia’s largest and highest profile events and each of these are injecting significant economic benefit to the NSW economy,” said King.

“Our staff and all the stakeholders involved have delivered a wonderful experience for our visitors and we couldn’t be happier for year one of the event. We look forward to welcoming Equitana back to Sydney Showground in 2013.”