Nearly every patch of grass is taken up by a ride, vendor or truck, and in the hours leading up to the Show’s opening on Saturday morning, showmen and women are dancing about in a rush to get everything ready for the Show. 

One of the biggest patches of grass is taken up by the family affair that is Brophy Bros. Circus, with the red and white tent rising above all but the biggest of rides. 

Warren Brophy is the man charged with getting the tent up, as well as driving trucks, organising, performing, and more when the big top rolls into town. 

While most families will spend hours arguing over how to put up tents – only to find someone forgot a pole – Brophy Bros. are experts.

However, there were still challenges getting the metre-long pegs into the ground, with the ground so hard Mr Brophy had to hire a large bobcat to get the tent pegs in. 

“It’s a mighty job,” he said. 

“We arrive on site, put the pegs in, mark everything out, put the king poles up, which are the poles that hold everything up, tent rises and it’s like a big jigsaw puzzle.”

He said this year the show was as big as he’s ever seen it. 

“We’ve been coming here for a long time, over 20 years and we’re a regular feature here … this year is going to be one of the biggest ones Orange has ever seen with the amount of rides and attractions is unbelievable,” Mr Brophy said. 

“I reckon this is the biggest show I’ve seen in 20 years … the Orange public is going to be blown away by it, it’s like a mini-Sydney show.”

The circus – which is free – will have eight shows running over the course of the weekend, and will have a full range of circus activities, from whip-cracking to clowns to horse shows and a contortionist coming down from Sydney. 

“She bends herself like a pretzel, she twists herself around and it’s amazing,” Mr Brophy said. 

He said he loves the thrill of performing, making it worth the extraordinary distances covered to get to Shows and the long stretches away from home.

“I’ve been doing it since I was a young kid, I love it, I love performing, I love entertaining and we’ve been coming here for over 20 years and it’s been very good to us, they come in the gate and get a free circus.”

Brophy Bros. Circus is free once you get in the gate, and shows are on from 12 noon, 3pm, 5pm, 6.15pm and 8pm on Saturday and 11.30am, 1.30pm and 3pm on Sunday. 

Catch all the times and events HERE.