A Chinese lion, a Cobb & Co coach, the Gundagai 7th Light Horse, beautifully-presented vintage cars, geisha girls, fire engines, tractors and dozens of other marching groups and floats made for a lively Wattle Time parade on Saturday.
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One of the largest crowds in recent years lined Parker Street applauding and exchanging greetings with friends and family.
The Chinese lion, with accompanying dancers and musicians, was contributed by the Ex-Services Club, which hired Canberra group "The Prosperous Mountain Lion Dance" to visit Cootamundra for the event.
At the end of the parade the dance continued into the club, where they did a special routine to clear away any evil spirits, blessed the front desk and went up through the club to bless the bistro, a Chinese restaurant opened there only late last year.
As soon as the parade passed, the crowd made a bee-line for the Wattle Time fair at Fisher Park, where the 1st Gundagai Scouts climbing wall was a popular attraction for young people.
Cootamundra Development Corporation spokesperson Leah Sutherland said visitors and stall holders alike enjoyed the fair, judging from survey questionnaires filled in on the day.
Records were broken on Sunday, with an unprecedented attendance of 2,700 through the showground gates for the 28th Cootamundra Swap Meet, held by the Antique Motor Club.
Spokesperson Barry Gavin said all available parking areas were chockablock, with cars stretching up side streets and up Rinkin Street as far as Bimbadeen.
Last year, the ARTC's closure of at the level crossing at Cootamundra West caused a lower-than-usual attendance at the swap meet, but this year the ARTC put on traffic controllers who let light vehicles on the Olympic Highway through to detour via Rinkin Street - the result being more traffic passing the showground, probably boosting numbers.
Riding for the Disabled, which has exclusive rights to provide food, reported record takings, and stall holders hiring 340 sites reported brisk sales.
The Antique Motor Club, which in February will celebrate its 40th anniversary, will donate most of the proceeds to local charities.