As is so often the case in country areas a good idea came out of a couple of blokes having a yarn. When J Lorimer, George Hart and J. J. Ibbott met early in 1879 they were not to know that what they were about to put in train would still be going decades later. Eventually a committee was formed to put their idea into action and the Coonamble P & A Association was born. Unfortunately, due to drought and other factors the first show didn't take place until 1883.

Eventually the show would become a week long celebration with a Show Ball on Monday, Show Days on Tuesday and Wednesday, Sheep Dog Trials on Thursday and Races on Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately this has been trimmed back to two days now but the spirit behind the show has not changed.

With 130 years of tradition to follow the aims of the Coonamble Show Society Inc. have changed little. Like the committee members from 1918, our aim is to educate and entertain the people of Coonamble Shire and surrounding communities while providing a social occasion for everyone to gather and celebrate what it means to live in and around Coonamble. Along the way we will renew old friendships and rivalries and make some new ones.

Through competition the latest trends and improvements in breeding livestock and growing crops are spread throughout the shire. Winning a ribbon in the cattle ring or wool pavilion is not only a mark of quality and achievement but also a sign of the bloodline's and type of animals that are required to keep ahead of the ever increasing price/cost squeeze that farmers face everyday.