Sideshow operators offer cash discounts for rides amid soaring costs

In short:

Country shows across are facing mounting cost challenges.

A sideshow operator says costs have risen between 30 and 50 per cent since the COVID pandemic.

Mount Gambier A&H Society show vice-president Ollie Abblitt says organisers try to find the right balance of attractions without being "too hard" on budgets.

A near doubling of the costs to run popular show rides has seen operators offering cash discounts to lure showgoers back to their favourite attractions this spring show season across southern Australia.

Showman's Guild of South Australia president Daryl Girdler said costs in his industry including fuel, insurance and wages had risen 30 to 50 per cent since the COVID pandemic.

"The entertainment dollar is the last dollar that gets spent,"he said.

"But our customers are also having to deal with their own cost pressures, including interest rate rises, fuel and groceries … there's a lot of pressure on families."

Mr Girdler said sideshow and ride operators had started offering discounts for cash payments to try to help customers.

"If you don't offer value for money, people just won't come,"he said.

"Or they'll run out of money too quick, so we're very mindful of the fact we've got to offer good, safe, affordable family fun."

Budget balance

As spring show season rolls out across country South Australia and Victoria, showgoers and sideshow operators are aware of just how fragile the entertainment dollar can be.

Ticket prices for rides range from about $10 to $30, which has led to some backlash online on community forums.

Mr Girdler said the newest ride, the Joker — deemed "Australia's scariest show ride" — was a $3 million investment, requiring a fleet of three prime movers to transport and multiple generators to run.

In South Australia's south-east, Mount Gambier A&H Society show vice-president Ollie Abblitt said bringing thrill rides to regional audiences was important.

"We spend the whole year planning our show, and try to find the right balance of entertainment and exhibitions without being too hard on the budget,"Ms Abblitt said.

"Ultimately, costs have been on the up for everyone in recent years, but we just hope people will come and support the country shows and the people who make a living providing this entertainment."

Family show tradition

Mr Girdler is on the road 10 months of the year with other members of his family, who are trying to carry on a multi-generation entertainment business spanning nearly a century amid the cost-of-living crisis.

"My grandfather started just after the second world war. He'd lived through the First World War, the Great Depression, and there wasn't much entertainment for people … especially out in the country."

In the early days, travelling across South Australia and rural Victoria by train, the Girdler family would set up their coconut shy, merry-go-round and pop gun attractions on railway sidings.

"It was a much simpler time, there was no television, no internet or phones and the people really needed cheering up," Mr Girdler said.

"It became the entertainment of the day."

The Girdler family's offerings evolved from games to tent shows with Samson the Strongman, the Tattooed Lady, boxing troupes and, eventually, show rides.

"When I was a kid, it was our lifestyle," Mr Girdler recalled.

"We'd arrive at the next show, set up our tents and gather around the campfire with other carnival folk, singing songs or listening to someone playing a guitar."

Regulation swept through the industry in the 1970s and 1980s and "cleaned out a lot of the cowboys", Mr Girdler said.