Rain usually dampens show attendance but this year it seems to have done the opposite.
According to Canberra Show general manager Michael Kennedy, the downpours of three weeks ago lifted people's spirits - and sent them to the ticket booths.
He believes drought, fire and smoke depressed Canberrans but that changed when the skies opened.
"The rain chilled it," he said. "When the rain came, there was relief. It was full steam ahead.
"It's been a really good-feeling show. People have stayed. There's been no aggro."
He thought that attendance would be about the same as last year or up. He reckoned the gate money was about the same.
The tough summer, though, did affect exhibitors. There were fewer flower competition entrants, for example. There were no merinos.
Farmers were struggling with costs. The struggle to survive came before preparing for the show, he felt.
"They are just tired."
When the rain came, there was relief. It was full steam ahead.
Michael Kennedy, General Manager, Royal Canberra Show
This was the first show with a tram stop on the front entrance and Mr Kennedy was pleased with the numbers who left the car at home. People who bought show tickets online got free public transport and that seemed to have worked.
One exhibitor, Peter Sutherland, is 79 on Wednesday and he's been bringing his cattle to Canberra from the property just over the Victorian border he's lived in all his life since the first show nearly a half century ago.
He blamed the fires for the fall in competitor numbers in some fields. "They have done big damage," he said. "So many people have lost cattle."
He and his wife Gina blamed the fires on "bureaucrats" who had blocked the clearing of bush which became fuel. Global warming? "Definitely not," they said together.
Orange High School's agricultural department brought nine Galloways this year compared with 16 of the breed last year.
The teacher, Mel Campbell, thought Canberra was great. "It's a big deal for us. It's the only Royal show we do. We don't do Sydney. The kids get a lot out of it."
