2023 Royal Show Report
“The Royal is deemed by many to be the premier agricultural show in the country, and 2023 did not disappoint.”
Coinciding with the Royal Agricultural Society’s 173rd anniversary, and blessed with good weather, the ten-day 2023 Royal Show concluded on Sunday 4 June.
Although exciting ‘new beginnings’ await, this was sadly the final event of its kind at the Society’s longstanding current address in Wembley, Pietermaritzburg.
Partnered by corporate sponsors Coca-Cola, First National Bank, East Coast Radio and the Red Meat Producers Organisation, the occasion drew wide interest with some 115 496 visitors attending.
Based on in-house and social media feedback, approbation of significance was forthcoming from many, both in respect of the quality of exhibits as well as the entertainment on offer.
The Royal is deemed by many to be the premier agricultural show in the country, and 2023 did not disappoint. This saw two National Livestock Championships; being the Hampshire Down sheep breed, and for the first time, the Chianina cattle breed (an exceptionally large beef animal of Italian lineage).
Christian de Jager’s giant bull, Jerusalem, on display at the Chianina club house at this year’s Royal Show.
Also, despite the challenges facing the national economy, and agriculture in particular, livestock numbers, per the schedule below, exceeded expectations.
Livestock numbers Royal Show 2023
| Category | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Goats, fat lambs, sheep | 713 | 407 | 1 076 | 681 | 558 |
| Cattle | 638 | 320 | 705 | 662 | 504 |
| Birds | 572 | 590 | 1 902 | 2 287 | 2 200 |
| Rabbits | 148 | 260 | 343 | 439 | 432 |
| Total | 2 071 | 1 577 | 4 026 | 4 069 | 3 694 |
In line with the norm, the competitive Cattle and Sheep Sections concluded their participation with the spectacular Gold Cup Cattle Parade in the main arena on Wednesday afternoon, 31 May.
Affording a fun-filled learning experience, the KZN Youth Show, catering for school going youngsters and students, took place during the course of the first weekend, and was well supported in terms of participation and public interest. As always, the Royal Show is indebted to the many farmers who loaned halter-trained animals for the occasion.
In similar vein, the KZN leg of the Toyota SA Young Auctioneer Competition took place on Monday afternoon, 29 May. Five entries were received, and the occasion was adjudicated by three seasoned auctioneers, Angus Williamson, Brandon Leer and Johan von Wielligh. John Cannon won the round, with Fiso Hadebe in second place, and both will go through to the final round to be held in September at Nampo Cape in Bredasdorp.
John Cannon, winner of the KZN leg of the Toyota Young Auctioneers Competition, held at this year’s Royal Show.
The Royal Show Carcass Competition – certainly the most prestigious event on the South African Red Meat calendar – was held on Tuesday, 30 May, and was livestreamed to a national audience. Following subdued bidding last year, 2023 saw a consequential improvement, with the second highest price of R2 200 per kilogram, ever achieved in South Africa for a lamb carcass.
Other agriculturally related displays of interest included the Sheep and Wool Expo (with weekend sheep shearing demonstrations), an informative exhibit by the Milk Producers Organisation, the Honey Hall and the ever-popular bird and rabbit sections.
Building on the success of 2022, the new and refreshing format of the Crafts Hall (Hall 5) was perpetuated. With astonishingly high quality displays by the Quilters, Floriate and Icing Cake guilds, and an array of colour and evocative lighting, the overall effect was pleasing. This saw the judges awarding the overall display a Gold Medallion and a trophy for Special Endeavour.
Adjacent to the Crafts Hall, the Woodworkers Guild returned to the Show, with interactive demonstrations by skilled craftsmen.
The remaining Royal Show Halls were broadly themed as follows:
Hall themes Royal Show 2023
| Hall | Theme |
| Hall 1 | General |
| Hall 2 | Health and Beauty |
| Hall 3 | Motor vehicles |
| Hall 4 | Municipalities, parastatals and the KZN Museum |
| Hall 6 | 'Mancave' focused on men's hobbies and interests |
| Hall 7 | House and home |
| Hall 8 | General |
| Hall 9 | Arts, culture and artisal wares |
| Hall 10 | The South African Police Services and the Department of Defence |
| Council House | The Pietermaritzburg/Msunduzi Municipality |
The Olympia Hall, themed largely on food and sustenance, was sponsored by MTN, who were granted naming rights to the venue.
From a commercial and an industrial perspective, 468 exhibitors were accommodated, seven less than 2022.
These included an impressive presence of heavy agricultural and construction equipment. Being ‘blue-chip’ operators, the participation of such entities bears testimony to the deemed credibility of the Royal Show, both provincially and nationally.
Of particular note, the choreographed display of Midlands Mascor was deemed by the judges to be of such a high standard as to warrant receiving four trophies.
The varied entertainment programme was structured to provide something of appeal to all age groups , and included:
KZN’s largest funfair
The return of the zipline
‘The Witness Car Sound-Off Show’, incorporating a ‘Dyno’ and ‘Show & Shine’ competition on Friday, 26 May.
Dog Agility Championships on Saturday, 27 May.
Sheepdog demonstrations on Sunday, 28 May.
Equestrian events, including Tentpegging, from Monday, 29 May through Saturday, 3 June.
The East Coast Radio Royal Rock Concert, featuring Prime Circle, Jesse Clegg, Lee Cole, Shadowclub, The Ross Harding Band and Cantrel on Saturday afternoon, 27 May.
The Witness Royal Symphony Concert, including the Wind-Bands of Wykeham Collegiate and Pietermaritzburg Girls High School, on Sunday, 28 May.
The return of the extraordinarily popular ‘Flight Night FMX Show’; an outstanding professional Moto-X display with pyrotechnics, on Saturday evening, 3 June.
The Royal Hindvani FM Extravaganza also on Saturday evening, 3 June.
The RSG Concert on Sunday afternoon, 4 June, featuring Steve Hofmeyr as a ‘late surprise artist’, Juanita du Plessis, Bobby van Jaarsveld, Dirk van der Westhuizen, Pieter Smith and West.
The intense marketing programme focused largely on print, broadcast, street posters and social media, the latter of which – per the table below - grew significantly in 2023.
Royal Show marketing 2023
| Marketing metric | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Facebook Page likes | 23 713 | 20 543 | 18 675 | 17 203 | 15 476 |
| Annual Facebook impressions | 1 805 937 | 1 762 198 | 685 536 | n/a | n/a |
| Facebook impressions for duration of Show | 705 850 | 790 566 | 402 649 | n/a | n/a |
| Annual website traffic page views | 273 962 | 179 263 | 223 682 | 218 524 | 149 182 |
| Website sessions for duration of Show | 35 740 | 30 813 | 28 556 | 22 128 | 15 214 |
| Online tickets sold | 5 217 | 4 838 | 1 748 | 1 608 | 1 479 |
Also, 50 videos were produced, edited and appeared on Facebook during the course of the Show, this together with 14 livestreams.
The one negative of note related to a fire on an exhibitors stand in the MTN Olympia Hall in the early hours of Sunday morning, 28 May. Fortunately, this was noticed and contained within a few minutes, resulting in minimal damage. Indeed, were it not for the expeditious intervention on the part of the Society’s electrical contractor – who happened to be passing the hall - it could have been far worse.
That aside, with perfect weather throughout, the 2023 Royal Show appeared to meet the expectations of exhibitors and visitors alike.
The Royal is indebted to and acknowledges with appreciation the support of its numerous sponsors – in cash and kind – and very especially, First National Bank, CocaCola Beverages, East Coast Radio and the Red Meat Producers Organisation.
Issued by the CEO
Royal Agricultural Society
28 June 2023