Someone couldn’t find their shoe so we left forty minutes late, which meant Castle Hill Showground was already half full of cars by the time we got there. My youngest has been obsessed with sirens since he could point at things and he saw a helicopter on the flyer for this and that was the whole day decided, we weren’t going anywhere else. I’d assumed a few trucks in a paddock and home by lunch. We were there past 2.
Parked way out near the oval, walked in past a food van, and the first thing we actually stopped at was a police car with the boot open, two kids climbing in for a photo while their dad filmed on his phone. My son wanted a turn immediately obviously. The officer let him sit there for a good five minutes and explained what half the stuff in the back does, torch, first aid kit, some kind of tablet mount, he then told me all of this wrong about four separate times for the rest of the day.
We didn’t really follow any order. Just walked toward whatever crowd was biggest.
The boat, the drone, the questions I didn’t expect
Ended up near a boat display and a Surf Life Saving guy let both kids climb in while he talked about rips and what the boat’s actually for. My daughter, who genuinely does not care about vehicles, ever, asked him three different questions about what happens if someone panics in the water. Wasn’t expecting that from her at all.
Later she found the drone station and would not leave. Twenty minutes at least, asking a police officer how they use them to search bushland. I had to physically pull her away because we hadn’t eaten and it was past 1.
The siren thing
Somewhere in the middle there was a mock rescue, car “in the water,” full siren going, two volunteers acting the whole thing out like a real callout, radios crackling. My son grabbed my leg. Properly grabbed it, half excited half scared, and thirty seconds later wanted them to do it again. I didn’t think an expo would actually be that loud when they’re not holding back. That’s the bit I’ve mentioned to my sister on the phone twice since, not the trucks.
CPR, and a confession
There’s a St John Ambulance area where the kids could do compressions on a mannequin. My son was terrible at it and the volunteer knelt down and fixed his hands without making a big deal of it, which I noticed because I’ve watched adults be way less patient with my kid over way smaller things. I had a go myself after he wandered off because I realised I actually couldn’t remember the rhythm properly, did a first aid course years ago and apparently none of it stuck. Should redo that.
What we missed
There was a scout activity we walked past twice and never stopped for. There was also an off-road course for the rescue vehicles my son wanted to go back and watch again on the way out and I said no because we were hot and tired, and he’s still bringing that up two days later, so.
The actual details
It’s free. Runs alongside the Hills Shire’s Orange Blossom Festival — event page here if you want exact times, and there’s a registration link which isn’t a ticket, it’s just so you know if anything changes. Parking fills up way faster than a “free community event” should, next time I’d just get the Metro, Hills Showground Station is like two minutes from the gate and we ended up walking a fair way from where we parked.
He’s five and the siren moment was the only bit that got to him, and even that he wanted repeated, so I wouldn’t worry too much about age. If you’ve got a kid who points at every fire truck that drives past, clear the afternoon. We’re already talking about going next year mostly because of the off-road course thing.
If you want other ideas for the same kind of weekend we’ve got a running list in our things to do with kids guide, and if you’re trying to line it up with school holidays, NSW’s spring break for 2026 is a couple of weeks after this runs, not during it.