2026 Competition Schedules

Share Your Original Music

The Geelong & Surfcoast Song Contest celebrates local talent, original music, and emerging artists. Submit your original song online and invite the community to listen and vote. Public voting and a judging panel will select 10 finalists to perform live at the 2026 Royal Geelong Show, where they’ll compete for recording sessions, studio time, music vouchers, and other great prizes. Whether you’re a solo performer, songwriter, duo, or band, this is your opportunity to showcase your music and connect with a wider audience.

The Homecraft section is one of the more traditional aspects of our Show and gives our talented locals a chance to display their skills.

Homecraft offers a vast array of classes for exhibitors across Cookery, Arts and Crafts, Horticulture, Woodwork, Photography, Woolcraft and much more.

For 2026, there are plenty of exciting new additions to explore, including an all-new Cosplay section and Glass Art section, new cookery classes featuring native ingredients, preserves, honeycomb and beer varieties, plus the fun new “Is It a Cake?” cake decorating class.

There are also new opportunities across crafts, crochet, knitting, needlework, photography, woodwork and woolcraft, along with lots of fresh classes for juniors, seniors and Special Needs exhibitors. Younger entrants can try everything from garden-inspired art and sculpture to cookery, photography and horticulture, while the new Just for Fun – My Uniquely Grown Vegetables class is sure to bring some wonderfully unusual entries!

Competitions are open to experienced exhibitors and complete beginners alike, with something for almost every age, interest and skill level.

Budgerigars are one of Australia’s most iconic native birds and have been admired and bred for generations for their bright colours, lively personalities and distinctive markings.

Originally found across the grasslands and open country of Australia, wild budgerigars travel in large flocks in search of food and water.

Over time, careful breeding has produced a remarkable variety of colours, patterns and feather types, with breeders working to develop healthy birds that meet recognised exhibition standards.

Today, budgerigar competitions bring together dedicated breeders and exhibitors, with birds judged on features such as size, shape, feather quality, colour and overall presentation.

The Geelong & District Poultry Club has been a part of the Royal Geelong Agricultural and Pastoral Society Inc. for 60 years.

Various breeds of birds are exhibited at the Show including Hard Feather, Soft Feather, Waterfowl and Geese. In 2026 we will be awarding special prizes to the Backyard Bird, with the Best Presented, Most Unique, Most Fluffiest and Fanciest Feathers.

With increasing entries, the Geelong & District Poultry Club put on a great display of the various poultry breeds. The Poultry exhibitors provide an educational experience within their shed with a display of chickens and are always on hand to discuss their birds with the public passing through the pavilion.

The Sheep section offers a fantastic exhibition of the sheep industry all in one pavilion.

Competitions are held for Stud Sheep, Shearing, Blade Shearing, Fleece and Woolcraft.

The central location of Geelong attracts exhibitors from all over Victoria and often interstate.

Our four-day event provides the opportunity to showcase dairy and beef cattle.

The Royal Geelong Show attracts Dairy Cattle exhibitors from all over Victoria. Competitors can exhibit in a full schedule of in milk and dry classes. The Junior Dairy Classic and Interbreed classes are strongly contested with entries growing each year.

The Beef Cattle feature events combine many breeds attracting exhibitors from far and wide. The Junior Beef Classic was added to our Show in 2017 and is set to be a highlight of the event each year.

The Dog Competition is a much-loved part of the Royal Geelong Show, bringing together an impressive range of breeds and talented exhibitors.

Running from Friday through to Sunday, the competition will feature Championship and Open Shows, with dogs judged across a variety of breeds and classes throughout the weekend.

It’s a great opportunity to see beautifully presented dogs, learn more about different breeds and watch experienced handlers compete in the show ring.

Fodder is one of the original competitions at Agricultural Shows.

The Fodder & Pasture competition compares the quality of pastures and crops at the farm. The Judge visits the farms to view the standing crops in the paddocks and awarding points against set criteria.

Samples of the fodder are displayed in the Hall of Agriculture. Award winning examples of grazing pastures, several types of harvested fodder, including canola, wheat, oats, barley, and lentils are displayed.

The competitions and displays proudly showcase the best produce from farms in the districts surrounding Geelong.

Our Woolcraft section compliments the Sheep section with displays and demonstrations of spinning, weaving, felting and knitting.

These techniques demonstrate the processes from the sheep’s back to the finished product. The Woolcraft section prides itself on the hands-on opportunities for children and adults to experience the wonders of wool.

Our Royal Show status attracts Horse exhibitors from far and wide.

The Horse Section of the Royal Geelong Show offers a full schedule of events for our equestrian competitors.

The Grand National Qualifying classes also attract top level show horses with success in those events earning them a ticket to the largest show horse extravaganza in the country.

Schools’ competitions are a great incentive for local schools to get involved with the Royal Geelong Show.

The School Bands competition provides our young musicians with the invaluable experience of a public performance. The competition covers many forms of musical genre, from the classical concert band, through to jazz, rock and modern musical themes.

The Education pavilion becomes a hive of activity from the Monday before the event with set up and judging throughout the week. Primary schools from around the region put together magical displays of artwork, art and scarecrows. Art teachers do an amazing job facilitating the children’s entries

Contact the office on 5221 1707 for further details.

The Vintage Machinery section of the Society was founded in 1970, showcasing a working machinery display demonstrating the methods of early farming and industry in Australia.

The Vintage Machinery section meets weekly throughout the year with showtime giving them the opportunity to put their work on display. The display of tractors, stationary engines, equipment and tools demonstrate the methods of early agriculture from Geelong and surrounding districts.

Some of the unique items include a working chaff cutter, grain crusher and water pumps. The newly renovated boiler will drive any piece of equipment within the Vintage Section that requires steam, another feature is the 1950 marine ship engine that came off a dredger from the Melbourne Harbour Trust.

Woodchop is a sport with its origins in early farming practices where timber was felled for many reasons.

Timber was used for the construction of farmhouses, buildings and fencing, or the clearing of land for development of pastures, raising animals or the growing of crops.

Large amounts of timber were also used to construct the wharves needed to export agricultural products like grain and wool.

Today’s competitors show their old-time axe skills cutting different logs, cross cut sawing logs and using three boards to climb a tree and fell it.

Shearing and woolhandling are deeply woven into the history of Geelong and the surrounding region, where wool helped shape the local economy, communities and agricultural identity for generations.

Shearing requires speed, strength and precision as competitors work to remove the fleece cleanly and efficiently, while always maintaining the welfare of the sheep.

Woolhandling is just as important, with competitors sorting, preparing and presenting the fleece after it has been shorn. It takes knowledge, quick thinking and a trained eye to recognise wool quality and work seamlessly alongside the shearer.

Together, shearing and woolhandling are a powerful reminder of the skill, teamwork and tradition behind Australia’s wool industry — and of Geelong’s own proud connection to it.

Today, those skills are still very much alive, bringing energy, history and a real sense of country tradition to the Show.