THOUSANDS of drenched show-goers stumbled out of Olympic Park as torrential rain put a wet full stop on the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
By the time the gates shut for the last time this year, some 210,000 dagwood dogs had been eaten, 30,000 pieces of fruit and vegetables judged, 5000 eggs laid and 13 piglets born.
The annual show also offered the richest agricultural show prize pool in Australia with $750,000 in cash prizes and 15,000 trophies.
Show organisers estimated 810,000 people went through the gates - a figure that would have been higher but for the drenched past few days.
More than 120mm of rain bucketed down on the showgrounds from 9am on Tuesday until 5pm yesterday.
Show general manager Michael Collins admitted the rain had put a damper on visitor numbers. "We could've expected more people but we still had lots of families come through," he said.
Young children, paying half price at the door yesterday, sought cover in the showbag pavilion to grab one of 1.7 million showbags sold. But Bertie Beetle stand employee Georgia Case, 18, said business had been slow over the past two days.
"It's a lot slower than last year," she said. "With the weather at the moment the whole show has slowed down and people don't have the money to spend any more."
Having already rushed to the ATM at the grounds, grandmother Janice Eggins, of Taree, saw the positive side to the rain.
"It just means if it rains you save money because you don't go on the rides," she said.
But not everyone was reluctant to spend. Blacktown mother Kelly Sparkes, 30, was $200 out of pocket by noon yesterday. She said she was unable to stop her son Jaye Fyvie, 5, from having his fun "Every year I say 'Not any more', but I still end up here," she said.
And the show will be back next year with the first plans already in the making. "But they are only rough ideas," Mr Collins said.
The show finished off with a big bang last night. Northern Territory didgeridoo band eMDee finished off with their award-winning fireworks display - Colours of the Outback. Four tonnes of fireworks went skywards over the course of the show.
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