General News
30 March, 2024
A world of mushrooms on display at Easter Show
Gilgandra artist Margaret Windeyer’s creative take on the positivity of the mushroom industry has featured prominently at the 2024 Sydney Royal Easter Show.
Gilgandra artist Margaret Windeyer’s creative take on the positivity of the mushroom industry has featured prominently at the 2024 Sydney Royal Easter Show. It is the 11th time Ms Windeyer has been part of the Western District exhibit team.
This year’s display was named ‘The World of Mushrooms and Fungi’ and highlighted the medicinal, culinary, agricultural, and environmental benefits of mushrooms. The Western District is one of four regions across the state to be represented and covers a huge geographic area, including Sydney Harbour, the Hawkesbury region, Dubbo, Broken Hill, Bathurst, and Orange.
Western Districts competed against Northern, Central and Southern in 2024 as South-East Queensland did not attend. Western Districts could not secure a win in 2024, but just 20 points separated the four NSW districts in the final results when teams can earn up to 1500 points in scoring.
A former long-serving Gulargambone Show secretary, that passion for community and art has seen Ms Windeyer make the trek to Sydney year after year with only COVID-19 in 2020 stopping her. The designer and creator of the Western District Exhibit’s first effort in 2014 was based on the Warrumbungle bushfires of 2013 and then another design was dedicated to the pulse and grain industry.
As the artist and creator of the Western District Exhibit, she keeps abreast of news and current affairs to think of topics. She said the work of those in the mushroom industry made this a good choice for 2024. She has been fortunate to have the support of the mushroom industry. Hawkesbury-based growers, the Orange Mycology Society and Mushrooms Australia, have all supported the exhibit.
“They were all so excited that I have featured their industry as the focus of the Western District Exhibit,” she said. She added that she believes if you decide to do something, you should invest yourself fully in any project. Attending the show annually is certainly an example of that dedication.
She has been in Sydney since Sunday, March 12 and will only return to Gilgandra this week. The World of Mushrooms and Fungi has been on display at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, which started last Friday (March 22) and continues until Monday, April 2, 2024.
