Orange Show Society president Peter Naylor and a gang of helpers held a working bee on Monday to begin preparations for the two-day agricultural show.

“It’s all done with volunteers, so we have working bee after working bee now,”  Mr Naylor said.

“It’ll be a typical Orange Show, with everything in the right spot.”

The volunteers moved around the showground driving stakes into the earth to mark out areas for the horse ring, the woodchop, the circus and other events.

The grass was vivid green on Monday, a result of recent rain.

“It’ll look a picture again,” Mr Naylor said.

Also set to look prettier than in previous years are the old showground pavilions, which are in the middle of receiving a new coat of paint.

Council contributed funds for the repainting effort last year, and the process got underway early last month.

“The [agriculture] pavilion is finished, and they’ve started on the Williams pavilion,” Mr Naylor said.

“We hope they’ll have it all done [before the show] but it just comes back to weather,” he said.

“It’s going to make the pavilions look nice and fresh and restored, and it will be great.”

The show is geared to attract people of all ages, with a Harley-Davidson display on the Saturday a new addition for this year.

“The young people come for the side shows [and] the pet show,” Naylor said.

“Middle-aged people come for the agricultural side of it, the arts and crafts.”

Wheat crushing and water pumping demonstrations by draught horses will be one of this year’s agricultural highlights.

The painters and the volunteers have just under three weeks to prepare the showgrounds for the Orange Show, which runs for two days on May 10 and 11.