But this year it bore the brunt of a double whammy — the vagaries of the lunar calendar and the even more extreme moods of the weather gods.

And while the result was not all bad it was not all good either.

Here’s what happened; throughout the Castlereagh Show Group which covers much of inland NSW there are show societies with fixed dates.

Lithgow Show is the only one that for various reasons varies to run a week prior to the Sydney Royal Easter.

And Easter, instead of being a reliable date like Christmas or Anzac Day, varies according to the cycle of the full moon.

This year the system backfired with an early Easter which meant Lithgow Show seriously clashed for the first time in ages with a number of other shows, not only in its own group but elsewhere in the state.

The result was that the showmen and entertainments that usually come to Lithgow for a last minute tune up before The Royal were spread too thinly and would obviously preference centres of larger population.

The result was that Sideshow Alley and ring attractions were unusually sparse.

Where last year there was an entire avenue of wall to wall state of the art attractions this year there was just one — plus a few of the older tried and true attractions.

Then there was the weather — and even by the Lithgow region’s reputation for unwelcome variety this was something else.

When the first showgoers trickled in to check out the offerings after the gates opened mid afternoon Friday the temperature was just shy of an unseasonably hot 30 degrees.

A few hours later a cold south easterly blew in, bringing a constant drizzle and sending temperatures into freefall.

The rain and the cold continued into Saturday, acting as a deterrent to many would be show goers and making things difficult for woodchoppers and mountain racers.

That was the downside of what was a weekend of disappointment for the tireless volunteers who organise the show.

The upside was the volume and quality of the surviving attractions.

● THE revitalised poultry club had a wonderful exhibit although patrons unfamiliar with the layout may have had difficulty locating the pavilion.

In the era of digital photography just about everybody has embraced the art and this was reflected in a record entry in the photography section in both quantity and quality — a huge display that attracted plenty of attention.

● THE animal nursery was again one of the most popular attractions at the show and in the adjoining pavilion there was a constant stream of visitors to view the school exhibits mounted by schools from the Lithgow district and Mt Victoria.

● YOUNG dancers and the young at heart line dancers attracted big crowds.

● THE Saturday night bull ride was far and away the most popular attraction of the weekend.

● AND the traditional grand finale, the fireworks display mounted by Howards Pyrotechnics, was sensational.

For the Show Society Lithgow continues to owe an A for effort even if this year it was a B for outcome.