A video pictorial of this year’s Penrith Working Truck Show amid the country rock sounds of Adam Eckersley and Brooke McClymont
Video: Greg Bush
Clear skies greeted the Sunday crowd on March 31 for this year’s Penrith Working Truck Show, held at the Museum of Fire. Hundreds of trucks were polished to the max as crowds swarmed through the gates.
Kids’ rides, live country music and trade displays kept the vibrant atmosphere at a peak throughout the day.
Truck numbers and attendance figures led Museum of Fire CEO Mark White to label the 2019 Working Truck Show as the “best by far”.
“Our show’s a different type of show; we’re not trying to compete with everyone else,” he says. “It’s about families and kids and value for money.”
According to Mark, transport businesses use the annual event to hold company picnics, bringing along their extended families.
“It’s a bit like the chain of responsibility. Just because they don’t drive a truck doesn’t mean they don’t work for a trucking company.”
On the entertainment side, country rock outfit The Wolfe Brothers, who took home four Golden Guitar awards at this year’s Country Music Awards of Australia, headlined the live concert, along with award-winning husband a wife duo Adam Eckersley and Brooke McClymont. Other live acts included the Viper Creek Band, Brad Butcher and Golden Guitar winner Christie Lamb.
“Standing alone, it is a supreme country music show. Put it together with the rides and the entry to the museum, which is normally $12 an adult, and then you’re getting the trucks and the trade and everything together,” Mark adds.
“So as a combination I think it’s a pretty good mix.”
More importantly, Mark says the trucks on show are a positive way to promote the transport industry, especially in the current climate.
“People are incredibly fearful of trucks, even though the statistics are that in 90 per cent of accidents involving trucks, the fault is the car drivers.
“So it’s a good opportunity for people to get up close and personal.”
March is a busy month on the calendar for truck events, so to give owners and drivers plenty of notice and to plan ahead, Mark White has announced that the 2020 Penrith Working Truck Show will be held on Sunday, March 29. Looking further afield, he also has dates locked in for 2021 (March 28) and 2022 (March 27).
Funds raised by the event go to the Museum of Fire, which is a registered charity, aimed at preserving the heritage of brave community firefighters as well as saving families from the dangers of fire.
“At the end of the day it is a great cause,” Mark says.
The next truck event to be held in the grounds at Penrith’s Museum of Fire will be the Sydney Classic & Antique Truck Show on June 2.
For further information on the Museum of Fire events, see the website at www.museumoffire.net/special-events, and www.pwts.com.au or the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/PenrithWorkingTruckShow.
To see and read more on the 2019 Penrith Working Truck Show, see the May edition of Owner//Driver.
Photography: Brent Harrison | Video: Greg Bush