CEO Update: June

Nominations for the Horses in Action program have closed with the highest number of nominations for many years, and most notably for the Garryowen Equestrienne Turnout, which is celebrating an incredible 90 years since being first held in 1934.

Prior to the 2024 Melbourne Royal Show, I encourage you to become a member of Melbourne Royal. As a valued Melbourne Royal Member, you will enjoy complimentary admission for you and a guest to the 2024 Melbourne Royal Show including discounted car parking, access to Members’ dining and hospitality areas and much more. In addition, you can save up to 50% on your entry fees for agricultural and other Melbourne Royal competitions.

The Country Women’s Association café at the Melbourne Royal Show is famous for serving breakfast, lunch and afternoon teas, to raise money for their programs. I had the great pleasure of welcoming CWA members from across Victoria as they descended on Melbourne Showgrounds on 31 May for the AGM and State conference in the Victoria Pavilion. This year’s conference theme was Advocating for Change with women’s safety and security at the forefront of the conversation with the Premier, Jacinta Allen delivering a wonderful presentation on recent Government initiatives announced.

The Country Women’s Association of Victoria has a special and long-standing association with Melbourne Royal and I thank Victorian State President Jennifer Nola and Executive Director Lynne Jordan for choosing Melbourne Showgrounds as their venue for the AGM and State conference.

I am thrilled to share with you that Melbourne Royal was crowned best In-House Events Management Team of the Year (Corporate) award at the Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) National Awards. Regarded as the most prestigious events industry Awards program in Australia, the MEA awards presentation held on Thursday 13 June proudly recognised the outstanding efforts of Melbourne Royal’s events team during the 2023 calendar year. Winning this prestigious award is wonderful acknowledgement and recognition for our highly experienced and talented team Melbourne Royal team in particular Olivia Belvedere, Senior Event Manager and Event experience team members, Alexandra Day & Jessica Hooppell.

Judging for the 2024 Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards will commence on 25 June with the Smallgoods category, followed by Sweet and Savoury Preserves from 27-28 June and Dairy on 2 July. This year, the trophy winners in each of the three categories will be presented at a function during the 2024 Melbourne Royal Show.

The Melbourne Royal Board and executive management had the pleasure of recently visiting Inglenook Dairy, a former Trophy winner in the Melbourne Royal Australian Food Awards. Inglenook Dairy is famous for delicious cream, milk, butter and yogurt and we were most grateful to Rachael Peterken and Gerry Leonard for their hospitality. We also had the great pleasure of visiting Dollar Bill Brewery where we were warmly hosted by owners Ed and Fiona Nolle. Dollar Bill won Champion Gypsy Beer for the third time running at the 2024 Australian International Beer Awards and in 2023 won Champion Australian Beer. 

We are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Australian Distilled Spirits Awards this year. Judging will be held from 22 -25 July at Melbourne Showgrounds and the Trophy Presentation function will be held on Thursday 1 August. To be held in the Victoria Pavilion at Melbourne Showgrounds, the Trophy Presentation function will feature an all-new format. A theatre-style awards presentation will be followed by a big reveal with the opportunity to taste all the 2024 Trophy and Gold medal winners across a variety of categories including whisky, gin, rum and many others. A limited number of tickets remain available on our website.

Thank you for your ongoing involvement and interest in Melbourne Royal. I look forward to keeping you informed in the lead-up to the 2024 Melbourne Royal Show.

 

Brad Jenkins
CEO
Melbourne Royal