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Sydney Showground has been named Australia’s ‘Best Event Venue, capacity more than 1,000’ at the 2021 -2022 Meeting and Events Australia (MEA) awards held last night on the Gold Coast.

Judged over a 24-month period, the venue demonstrated its ability to adapt and evolve to the needs of the event industry and clients while contributing positively to the return of events in Australia.

Over the qualifying period, Sydney Showground excelled in a range of areas, including the execution of the 2021 Sydney Royal Easter Show, its Covid support model for event planners, and the management of staffing and its broader business throughout the pandemic.

Sydney Showground General Manager, Darryl Jeffrey shared “It is a great honour and achievement to be named MEA’s 2021-2022 Best Event Venue, capacity more than 1000. It is a testament to our team’s passion and dedication to not only our venue but the wider Australian event industry.

“As an organisation run by a not-for-profit business, the challenges faced by Sydney Showground during this time were substantial - we had to rethink our business strategy and find ways to secure our business’ future by working alongside clients to get events back up and running.”

To secure its future, Sydney Showground successfully revisited its business strategy in 2021 to focus on viable contracts such as film and Government leasing while also building a ‘covid support’ document that supported clients during uncertain times.

In addition, the venue hosted the 2021 Sydney Royal Easter Show, which was the largest ticketed event in the world to take place at the time, working side by side with its parent company, the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW, to deliver a safe and successful event that led the way for many other organisers post-pandemic.

Jeffrey added “It is through the pure determination of innovative leaders and staff that has seen the Australian event industry get back to where it is today. I congratulate all winners and finalists on continuing to deliver incredible events despite the challenges faced.”

For more information about Sydney Showground or to plan your next event, please visit the website.

Image top: 2021 Sydney Royal Easter Show Dome; image centre: Meg Hooton, Andrew Roberts, Caylie Bush; image above: 2021 Sydney Royal Easter Show

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