A SPRUCED-UP Newcastle Show will light up the city next year with the promise it will be accessible, affordable and one of the best yet.
Newcastle Show will be held at Broadmeadow in March 2024 and prominent community service veteran Rhonda Scruton has joined the committee as vice president.
"We're taking it right back to grassroots - that it's a family, fun event," Ms Scruton told the Newcastle Herald.
"We're going to achieve it."
She said it would be a volunteer-orientated charity event that showcased all the things people didn't usually see when they lived in the city.
"There's just so much happening in Newcastle, we really want to showcase what's out there and what's going to happen in the future," she said.
She said the volunteer group was committed to bringing the competitions, entertainment, rides, horses, cattle, poultry and were hopeful for dogs as well.
She said kids in bigger towns and cities sometimes didn't understand the importance of agriculture and horticulture, with plenty believing milk came from Woolworths and beef came from Coles.
"As an adult and grandmother, you just realise that education is a part of life growth," he said.
"This is our one opportunity, once a year, to give it to everyone in Newcastle."
While the last few years of drought and COVID-19 "had hurt", but Ms Scruton said locals had been supportive of the upcoming show.
"We can't believe the response from the community to help us ... we're really working on a positive note to have a brilliant show," she said.
"I'm enjoying this challenge because I think the winner is going to be the community."
Ms Scruton said the committee had been working hard for months to coordinate everything for the first three days of March next year, and to provide most of the entertainment for free.
She said the group would be offering memberships for discounted "early bird" prices.
"We're really treating it like we want to give Newcastle the best show ever," she said.
She said she had been inspired by seeing the smiles on everyone's faces at last year's show, especially during the fireworks display.
The committee will actively recruit volunteers later this year and Ms Scruton said she would like to engage high school students as well.
