Reliving a day at the Rand Easter Show

The only element that remained unchanged this year was the debate about the safest route.

Young and old enjoy themselves during the Rand Show exhibition at the Nasrec Expo Centre on April 01, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa.Picture: Gallo Images / Frennie Shivambu

As a child, visiting the Rand Easter Show was always one of the highlights of the year. I’m talking way back in the day when the showgrounds were still in Braamfontein – the area which is now the west campus of Wits University.

As children, we often used to go to the show by train. We would get on at Krugersdorp station and off at Braamfontein. A hop, skip and a jump up the hill and we were at the showgrounds.

Every year, we would spend the entire train ride debating whether we would take a short cut through the cemetery to the show grounds. I must admit, I was always extremely grateful when sanity prevailed and we stuck to the more trusted route following the road. Not that I was afraid, but I was the youngest in the group.

I was never worried about the return trip because at dusk, or sometimes even after dark, nobody would dare suggest we take the short cut.

The first building as one entered the showgrounds, was the flower hall. Believe it or not, but back then the flower hall was one of the main attractions. Although just children, we would spend a good deal of time in that fantasy world of colour and aromas that seemed so very exotic.

The entire showground was an adventure-filled maze. There was a flea market section and a merry-go-round, but mostly the show was a congregation of people showing off their products and offering them at “never-to-be-repeated show prices”.

And there were loads of free samples, free tastings and competitions. By the time we got home – utterly exhausted – we had amassed so many posters and pamphlets and samples that we relived the show every day for the next week.

I was reminded of these show excursions when this year, for the first time in decades, we visited the Rand Show again.

This time round, the visit lasted only four hours. The flea market effect is still there and the rides. But for the rest, it seems that the government departments and municipalities are the only ones still putting on a show.

The only element that remained unchanged was the debate about the safest route.