Bendigo Show for Newbies: Part 1

The Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show is an annual event held in Victoria, Australia. Every year, knitters, crocheters, spinners, weavers, felters, etc converge on the show to gather new yarns, fibres, equipment, tools, etc. People go crazy here (I am one of those!!) and buy up big which is one of the reasons it has also become known as Spendigo!

I have attended the last 5 years and it is something I look forward to all year. Nothing stops me from going... (even having our house broken into in 2012!) For me, it is my chance to catch up with my best friends who live in Bendigo, I get a bit of time to myself with no little people around, I get to meet new people, buy lots of yarn and learn and see so many new yarns, fibres and techniques.

As a newbie, I didn't know what to expect the first time I went in 2010. I think I took about $100 to spend and thought that would be fine. I ended up being so overwhelmed for choice, I didn't know what to choose, and ended up being cautious with my money and what I chose to spend it on. Over the next 4 years my stash has grown and grown... and each year I have bought more and more... including equipment such as a spinning wheel and a niddy noddy.

I am by no means an expert on the Show or Bendigo, but I now recognise the set up and can offer some tips and information. I have found that newbies either go totally nuts and buy everything, or get overwhelmed and buy nothing. So hopefully this outline will help you. I have broken the post into a few categories and due to content I have split these into 2 parts.

• The basics (pt1)

• What you will find (pt1)

• What to take (pt2)

• My tips (pt2)

• Also check out.... (pt2)

The Basics

When: Friday 17th, Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th July 2015

Where: Prince of Wales Showground, Bendigo, Victoria

I have created a map for you to show where everything is located what I talk about in this post. You can find it by clicking on the icon to the right (it may help you with choosing your accomodation).

Cost: The 2015 ticket prices aren't up as yet, but it is usually around $20 to get in for the day. There are also tickets for the full 3 days.

How to Get there: There are a few options available depending on how you are arriving.

Car - I have outlined parking options below. If you have a GPS, you can look up the showground that way, or simply have a look at the map I have created above.

Rail - If you are looking at the rail options, you can have a look at the V Line website, this shows a few options for coming in from Victoria. This pdf shows the times for the Bendigo Line to and from Melbourne (Southern Cross Station). Once you are in Bendigo, there is a Bendigo Show Bus that will take you up to the showground. I came across this information on the show website: "Sheep Show bus meets V Line Melbourne inbound trains daily in morning and shuttle to showgrounds for $2.00 Gold Coin donation and returns in afternoon to meet V Line Melbourne bound trains".

Air - Once you have landed, you can catch a bus to the Southern Cross Station and follow the rail options outlines above. Depending on which airport you land in determines your options. The PTV website has a journey planner you can use to workout the best options from your arrival time. If you are coming from Tullamarine Airport the Skybus may be the best option.

Parking: There is paid parking across the road from the showground, it is usually $5 and goes to charity. There are also other places to park further up Havilah Road, but keep in mind that the RSL Club Parking will be closed (they will have security there to stop people from parking there).

Site Map/Set Up: There are 4 entries to the showground, The one on the top of th hill is the main gate and the one at the bottom of the hill is Gate 1. (These are usually the 2 most commonly used ones). Gates 2 and 3 are located on the opposide sides. The plans are still being made for 2015, but you can see the 2014 plans here. Below is how the the overal showground was organised last year. Keep in mind that most of these apply to the animal aspect of the show. In the map below (click on it for a larger picture), the yarn, equipment, etc is held in numbers; 2, 3, 4, 5, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. Stallholders do change locations some years, but I have outlined some that are usually in the same spot below in the "What you will find" section.

Accommodation: As it is such a large event, with people coming from all over Australia to attend, accommodation can book out fast, become expensive and be hard to come by. If you know you will be attending, it's best to get it organised as soon as possible. Personally, I cannot recommend any places as I am lucky in that my best friends live in Bendigo and I have always been guaranteed a bed (and knitting/spinning company too!) However, I have had a bit of a look around, and I have found that most of the accommodation is located in the centre of town. At the time of posting, some of the accommodation (looking at wotif) has already been booked out, but you can follow this link to see what is still available.

Why is it so amazing? All of the shopping! There is just so much to see, squish and feel (I am talking about the yarn of course!). I will go into this more in the next section. You can also meet fellow knitters, crocheters, weavers, spinners and fibre artists. There are also lots of stalls with equipment and it's a great way to see new products (last year I discovered the Fleegle Beaders at the Kathy's Fibre's stall)

What else is there other than yarn shopping? The Sheep and Wool show isn't only about yarn *gasp* it's main focus is actually on sheep. There is also the Festival of Lamb, a Fashion Show and a Woolcraft Competition. I've written more about these below. As a side note... I think the one thing MrWhirlsie was most excited about was the woodfired pizzas in the food tent.

Coffee: This may sound a little silly, but as I always have a coffee in hand, this is something I like to know about. We usually seem to enter in from Gate 1, and there is a coffee stand right near the gate. That seems to be the last one before you hit the sheds at the bottom. The other coffee carts are located at the top of the hill across from #5 on the map and also in the pavillions. I hope this helps you guys out too :)

What you will find...

Yarn/stall holders

There are so many stall holders at the show, with many, many gorgeous goods on offer! Below I have listed only some of the stall holders you may find at the show (I say may as I cannot guarantee they will definitely be there again, but they usually are). I have included links to their facebook pages where you will be able to find additional information or their Ravelry group if no Facebook page is available.

• Candy Apple Lane: Hand dyed yarns

• Dairing: Novelty yarns

• Ewe Beaut Co-op: Handspun articles, hand-dyed yarns (this is a group of fibre artists such as Shiloh Wool, Candy Apple Lane, etc)

• Elisabet & Inverleigh Farm: Coloured fleeces, handspun yarns, fibre

• Fiberific!: Spinning Wheels, Spindles and handspun yarn

• Gin and Tonic Yarns: Handspun yarns

• Ixchel Angora Rabbit Stud: Hand-dyed yarn and fibre - it has become well known that if you come with bunny ears, Charly will have a little gift for you. (Above is a pic of Charly with Nessa at the show)

• Kathys Fibres: Hand-dyed and handspun yarns

• Mayhem and Chaos Handmade: Spindles. hand-dyed fibre and yarns

• Moseley Park: Hand-dyed yarn and fibre, sock yarns

• Shiloh Wool: yarns, fibre and fleeces. (link to blog)

• Spun out Fibres: Spindles extraordinaire

• Wooldancer: Artyarns

• Wool’n’wire: Hand dyed yarn and fibre (I also got a lovely shawl pin from them last year) link is to the etsy store

• Wren and Ollie: Hand dyed yarn and fibre

Equipment

Along with yarn and fibre, you will also find other supplies and equipment in some of the stalls mentioned above along with other stall holders.

I usually buy all of my bigger purchase items at the show as I can usually have a little try before I buy. Over the years I have bought my spinning wheel, niddy noddy and tensioned lazy kate. I have also been able to pick up some new needles/tips, cables, a WPI gauge and this year I will be on the hunt for a Yarnie.

There are usually stalls there from Majacraft, Ashford, and there are other stallholders who also have other brands as well. There is also a lovely couple from Virginia Farms who sell equipment at the show too. They are lovely to talk to and are happy to help you with questions.

Woolcraft Competition

One of my favourite things to do at the show is to have a look at the Woolcraft Competition entries. There is an entire shed dedicated to wool craft and there are some fantastic projects. Hand Knitting, Machine Knitting, Crochet, Spinning, Weaving, etc. There are group entries and there is also usually a theme if you would like to enter into that category. You can find the 2015 Woolcraft Schedule here (831 KB, PDF). This year will be the first year where they will be doing online entries as well as postal. Below are some important dates to remember if you would like to enter.

Woolcraft entry forms: must be received by Friday, 12th June 2015, 4.30pm (do not send exhibits with entry form)

Exhibits

Posted by mail – to arrive by Friday, 3rd July 2015 (registered mail recommended)

Delivered by hand – Monday, 13th July 2015 between 2-4pm Tuesday 14th July between 9am – 12 noon. Delivery instructions will be included with exhibitor tickets.

Petting Zoo

This is great if you have kids, or like my bestie Kai, you just love animals! Over the years there have been some changes to what animals we come across, but I have seen; sheep, goats, ducks, chickens, and alpacas.

Festival of Lamb

Until last year, I never really paid much attention to this, but I had the BEST lamb burger for lunch! I will be doing the same again this year... it's worth the line! There are also cooking demonstrations too.

Fashion Show

Each year there is also a fashion show where you can see the Women of Wool (although I am usually at the other end of the showground when it is happening). There are parades showing the work of some of Australia's best designers, the winners of the woolcraft and wearable woolcraft entries.

Other things to keep a look out for...

Finally, it is also worth keeping a look out for the sheepdog trials, the shearing and also look for the sitting area usually set up in the bottom sheds for those who wish to knit, crochet or spin.

*phew* that was a lot to tell you about. Make sure you keep a look out for part 2 where I will give you some tips and a little more information. You can also subscribe to stay up to date with the blog.

Part 2 can be found here.