Thousands of people now have a better understanding of where their cotton clothing comes from after Cotton Australia delivered a highly successful 12 days of engagement and education at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Cotton Australia returned to the Woolworths Ag Discovery Pavilion in the heart of the Show’s agricultural zone, making it a prime location to share the story of Australian cotton with the thousands of visitors who passed through each day.

This year, that story was made easier to tell with the inclusion of a full cotton module for the first time ever, which Cotton Australia’s Education Manager Jenny Hughes said proved to be a major drawcard for visitors.

“The introduction of the module certainly drew people in, particularly repeat visitors who had previously experienced the virtual reality offering, and attracted people who may have walked past the stand in previous years,” she said.

“Although the most common question we got was, ‘is that wool?’, the module provided the opportunity for city dwellers to see and touch raw cotton – many for the first time.”

Another new element to the Cotton Australia stand was the mini gin – a real working replica of a gin to show how the ginning process works.

“The inclusion of the gin and module meant it was the first time we’ve been able to showcase the cotton journey from the paddock right through to the bale of lint that we export, strengthening people’s understanding of the production process,” Ms Hughes said.

“The live cotton plants further enhanced the experience, giving visitors the opportunity to see bolls forming and reinforced that cotton originates from a plant, not a sheep or a synthetic process. It’s a good way for us to include the growers and it’s amazing how many people were fascinated to see it in the growing stage.”

Each day, more than 500 people participated in the virtual reality experience where they were transported to the paddock to see how cotton is grown, while it’s estimated more than 2,600 people moved through the space per day, equating to more than 31,200 people across the 12 days.

While the virtual reality headsets are always popular with young people, Ms Hughes said the clothesline with the finished product was a great visual drawcard, while the informative displays helped people connect with the fibre in a tangible way.

Another key driver of engagement was the Soil Your Undies display which Ms Hughes said was a good conversation starter, with the sustainability message resonating strongly.

“It always helps people understand that cotton is a natural, biodegradable fibre and the importance of the microbial activity in the soil, but it’s also a good opportunity to explain about what’s left of the undies – the synthetics,” Ms Hughes said.

“In my conversations, only about one in ten people knew that synthetics are made from plastic and petrochemicals and around half were considering behaviour change after learning more.”

The Cotton Australia stand was supported by staff, growers, industry representatives and agriculture undergraduate volunteers from the University of Sydney, who Ms Hughes said were “brilliant”.

Overall, the stand provided a strong, engaging end-to-end story of Australian cotton production, successfully connecting a diverse, largely urban audience with agriculture and reinforcing the value of cotton growers.

“Eighty-five per cent of our population live within 50 kilometres of the coast and many have never been the other side of the Blue Mountains, so if you don’t see it, it’s very hard to understand,” Mr Hughes said.

“The aim of the Sydney Royal Easter Show is for the city to meet the country and at the end of the day, events like this are all about promoting our growers and the sustainability of what they do so we can wear good quality clothing.”

16 April 2026