A burst of spring showers left early bird showgoers huddled under umbrellas on Saturday morning, while local residents cashed in on the prime parking spaces of their driveways.

Royal Adelaide Show punters lined up before the gates opened at 9am battling wind and rain to be the first to experience the fun and thrills of the state’s largest community event.

The blended McFeetrs and Kranz-Hill family were some of the dozens of people lined up at the Adelaide Showgrounds Rose Terrace entrance on Saturday morning.

Just before 8.30am. Rebecca McFeetrs, 21, described the weather as “horrid”, but said the family was looking forward to getting inside and hitting the pavilions first to stay dry.

Four-year-old Willow proudly held a pink floral umbrella over her father Zac McFeetrs as he attended to her 18-month-old sister Zahara.

On Essex St nearby the show grounds, Jarrah Deruiter, 12, was in charge of show parking at his family’s home, hoping he would earn enough to buy a pair of $400 Ariat cowboy boots.

The confident young Jarrah told The Advertiser he charged between $20 and $30 for parking, depending on how long punters planned to stay, and could fit roughly 7 cars in his driveway.

In his six years helping with the parking, he said people had left the keys to their Bentleys, Mustangs and Teslas in his care.

Parking for people with a disability permit was free, Jarrah’s step-father Christian Bertram added.

“Finding an accessible park can be the difference between going and not going to the show for people with disabilities,” Mr Bertram, 49, said.

He said the family of nine also opened up their home for children of customers to use their bathroom and play in the backyard on their array of equipment including a zip line if they needed some downtime.

Meanwhile Jarrah’s siblings Amberly Bertram 8, and seven-year-old Phoenix Bertram set up a stall selling homemade bracelets to save up for show bags.

Another resident on the street, who has been offering parking for 33 years, was charging $35-$40 for showgoers to leave their cars at her home.

Meanwhile on nearby Railway Tce Fernandez sisters Matilda, 14, and Frankie, 5, were charging $35 for parking.

Frankie said she planned to spend her cut of the earnings at the school canteen while Matilda planned to add the cash to her savings.

Their next door neighbour, 12-year-old Angus Johnston, was also charging $35 for parking and said he planned to put profits towards new lacrosse gear.

The iconic Show is back for 2026 with the return of traditional fireworks, 50 rides for thrillseekers including a new addition – The Warrior – plus plenty food and showbags choose from.

More than 400,000 people are expected to walk through the Showgrounds gates over the next nine days, according to Royal Adelaide Show chief executive Will Rayner.

“We have more than 10,000 people helping us to put it on each day so we know it takes a lot of people just to put on the Show and that’s before you get any of the punters coming through the gate,” Mr Rayner said.

With the Crows finals clash against the Bulldogs also scheduled for Saturday, Mr Rayner said fans will be able to catch the game on multiple screens at the Show.

“What a great weekend to be a South Australian,” he said.

“Hopefully it’s a big win for Tex and the boys and we just get that momentum into a big Show week.”

South Australian Police will have a strong presence at the Show and will be able to “wand” attendees to search for weapons and other prohibited items.

“We use this legislation every year and thankfully we do not get weapons entering the Show which is fantastic but I certainly want to put that out there to the public,” Superintendent Scott Denny said.

The Royal Adelaide Show runs from Saturday, September 5 to Sunday, September 13.