The sun was shining and the weather was warm for the first day of Agfest 2018.
This was the first Agfest visit for Grove siblings Madeline and William Abel, who loved the animals, their father Tim Abel said.
“William is mostly into tractors and Madeline is mostly horses, but otherwise anything and everything – the sheep dogs, the animals,” Mr Abel said.
“We’re interested in the horses. We’ve got 50 acres and have horses.
“They’ve grown up on the farm eating our own veggies and our own lamb and beef and stuff. They’re pretty comfortable little farm kids,” he said.
Mr Abel was impressed with the tags offered on entry for children’s arms for parents to write their phone number, and was on the look out for Tasmanian-made products.
“What would be really good to see is some kind of a Tassie-made logo on all those products.”
“It’s nice to know what’s been made here and what’s being kept alive, especially farming equipment,” he said.
More than 17,300 patrons came through the Quercus Park gates on Thursday, with Agfest chairman Owen Woolley thrilled with these figures.
“[Thursday] was fantastic. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever got sunburnt at Agfest,” Mr Woolley said.
“I couldn’t be happier. There was consistent patronage site-wide.
“For my first day as chairman on site it was quite a relief. We were very lucky with a week of good weather in the lead-up to Agfest,” he said.
Rain and 15 degrees is forecast for Friday.