It was a great honour when I was asked to write the history of the Bathurst Agricultural Show when it celebrated its Centenary. One thing that has never been lacking in the Eastern Cape is a wealth of resourceful and colourful human material. I sometimes think that the true soul of South Africa is to be found among these wonderful people and so you will find in this historical narrative sprinklings of the human material essential to make a boring account of facts figures and dates come to life. In spite of many difficulties during the last century, in the small village of Bathurst, situated in a rural corner of South Africa, a Show has gone on year after year growing from strength to strength because of the faith and determination of a small band of men and women. Every exhibitor in the past , present and future is grateful to them. Stronger and larger societies have fallen by the wayside but here in tiny Bathurst this Agricultural Show has survived and prospered. The Shows at Bathurst have a wide and favourable reputation not only in the variety of exhibits and arena events but for the whole village atmosphere and setting. It is a facet of life in the Eastern Cape and must not be allowed to diminish.
This is surely the number one Agricultural Show in the Country.