The sun was shining and there wasn't a drop of rain.
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Was it really the Newcastle Show weekend?
"It's about time we had a break and we got it," show president Peter Evans said.
It was a weekend of Goldilocks weather.
"It wasn't cold and it wasn't hot, it was perfect," he said.
Mr Evans said the attendance proved that "the show is back".
"We haven't seen numbers like this since the 1970s and 1980s," he said.
"It went brilliantly. We're all so happy because it was a real test for the future."
Concerns had been raised that the NSW government was considering selling most of the showground site and shifting the show to land near McDonald Jones Stadium.
"The Newcastle people have spoken by their attendance. They want their show and they want their showground back to where it was before we had damage done to the buildings in the Pasha Bulker storm," he said.
"There are buildings we haven't been able to access. We'll demand access to them and want to use them next year."
While the weather shone on the show, Mr Evans said "we need to be better prepared for when we have rain".
"We can do that by taking back and rebuilding the buildings that have been lost to us. And there are other areas we can access and improve," he said.
He said there should also be a renewed bid to secure a show holiday through the state government for next year.
"We've got to look at that holiday again. Whichever government is in will have to consider bringing show day back," he said.
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