Meet "Cricket" the Southern boobook owl, one of the new feathered attractions at this year's Royal Canberra Show which starts on Friday.
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While the rides – and there are three new ones this year – and the showbags are always popular, the animals continue to be crowd favourites, whether it's the racing pigs, the livestock, the young ones in the petting zoo.
New this year is the Feathered Friends free flight bird show from Sydney.
Bird trainer Ravi Wasan said the show would feature parrots, birds of prey, cockatoos, macaus and barn owls, which were rehabilitated at its Sydney sanctuary, sometimes after injury, or bred on site.
"The birds are going to interact and they're going to land on your arm and perhaps if you're a kid in the audience, you'll be able to see what's it like to feed an owl or hold a black cockatoo," he said.
Cricket was only four-months-old but happily flew from trainer to trainer for the reward of a piece of meat. A magnificent red-tailed black cockatoo spreads his feathers he flits around the site, maybe a portent for rain.
"Basically they see myself and the other trainers as their parent or their guardian and we'll train them and encourage them to feel confident and comfortable," Mr Wasan.
The racing bigs are back, led by Kevin "The Pig Whisperer" Kiley, from Noah's Thoroughbred Pigs in Warwick, Queensland.
The piglets race through an obstacle course to get to the finish line – which happen to be wherever there was a bucket of milk.
People's fascination with the pigs couldn't be underestimated.
"I think people have an affinity with pigs," Mr Kiley said. "Pigs are pretty smart and pick up things so quickly."
Escaping the heat on Friday, sitting with their cattle amongst the hay in a tin shed, was a group of Year Nine ag students from St Gregory's College in Campbelltown.
They've brought six cows and 15 sheep to show in Canberra.
Fourteen-year-old Alex Pase said he just "loved showing cattle".
"It's just being with the cattle and meeting new people," he said.
Royal National Capital Agricultural Society president Garry Ashby said he hoped the crowds would top 100,000 across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The new sideshow alley rides include The Pirate Ship and The Avenger, described as a "two-storey washing machine".
Also new this year is Heritage Park which features heritage machinery and old-school trades including a blacksmith, wood bodger, leather worker and chaff cutter.
"For the main arena, we've got Ford versus Holden, the D-Max utes are back after two years and we have a fantastic new fireworks display," Mr Ashby said.
"Normally, fireworks are fired from one location, but this time we have seven or eight locations and it's going to be very spectacular." The fireworks will be over the main arena at 9.20pm on Friday and Saturday.
And the show society never lost sight of using the next three days to bring the country to the city.
"That's our strongest thing – showing Canberrans rural life and explaining things like food sustainability, our animal production and our crops, to ensure Australia's got a future in food. So it's got a very serious side as well, while delivery things in a fun way."
With hot weather still forecast for the weekend, some stalls such as The Citrus Factory from Sydney are guaranteed to be busy.
Owner James Rose said he had brought 80 litres of pure lemon juice to conjure up his tailor-made drinks.
"We've got enough stock to make lemonade for everyone in Canberra," he said, with a laugh.
The Royal Canberra Show at Exhibition Park in Canberra is open 8.30am to 10pm on Friday and Saturday and 8.30am to 6pm on Sunday.
