The annual South East Field Days made an exciting return last week, with people eager to attend the event after two years of cancellations due to COVID-19.

This year marked the 42nd Field Days with close to 10,000 people attending the event at Yakka Park in Lucindale on Friday and 12,000 on Saturday.

Lucindale Lions Club president Kevin Baker said organisers were more than happy with how the event went and were ecstatic with attendance numbers.

“I think this is the first real big thing that’s been able to go ahead and I think having missed two years in a row, people like coming to the field days, the weather was perfect,” he said.

“As a Lions Club, we are very happy.”

Mr Baker said the grassed area made for a great setting for both exhibitors and attendees and said they received nothing but great feedback from the exhibitors.

“You feel really good for the exhibitors because they wanted this to happen and we wanted it to happen and it’s come together and people supported it,” he said.

“Hopefully everyone’s got a lot out of it and exhibitors are happy, they got the support they had been lacking for two years.”

There was no shortage of entertainment, including the South East Axemen, yard dogs, shearing and wool handling demonstrations, SA Police Dixieland Band and Can Am Team ‘Addicted to Mud’ stunts and demonstrations.

The Balharry Memorial Children’s Centre Activity Tent with Old McDonald’s Travelling Farm, Burrungle Park Laser Tag and a cute puppy pen in Kelpie Korner were popular with the youngsters.

Mr Baker said the easing of the COVID vaccination restrictions helped, which lifted the requirement of double vaccination to enter.

“That was going to be a major thing of people coming through the gate asking questions, who’s allowed in, who’s not, so that being relaxed made our job quite easy,” he said.

Mr Baker said people were courteous when it came to following restrictions such as mask wearing indoors.

“I think everybody was pretty happy, so hopefully the COVID situation just keeps getting better and we can get back to some sort of normality,” he said.

Mr Baker said the clean-up after the event went well with the community pitching in to help and organisers were already looking forward to next year’s Field Days.

“We will be back again next year,” he said.