73986

A feature-length documentary exploring the world of carnival family the Bells as they cross the country on the show circuit has been broadcast on the SBS channel.

Premiered at the Sydney film festival last November, The Carnival has been presented as part of the third season of SBS’ Australia Uncovered - following the Bell family on the annual circuit that takes them from Adelaide to Darwin and back again, meandering through a vast area of Eastern Australia, following much the same route as previous generations.

Shot over the course of seven years, The Carnival follows Bells Family Carnival exploring their hundred-year heritage of attending country and agricultural shows and holiday season stays in almost every corner of Australia.

The documentary covers how life as ‘showie’ or ‘carnie’ has always been tough, highlighting how the Bells have faced up to the unprecedented challenges of recent years: the Black Summer bush fires, the COVID pandemic and attendant lockdown and travel restrictions.

It also reveals how showies are a tight-knit community, even outside of immediate family - at one point The Carnival sees Elwin’s wife, Selina, a seventh-generation carnival worker, preparing Christmas lunch for 80 guests.

Director Isabel Darling spent several years travelling off and on with the Bells, who average one or two locations a week on their endless cross-continental journey.

A world people are generally born into, as Elwin was - telling the tale of his own entry into the world, born three months premature near Biloela in 1969, far from decent medical care. He made it, and flourished - old home movies giving a window into an earlier time that, smartphones aside, isn’t too dissimilar from modern showie life - but it does demonstrate that life on the road means you’re often far from amenities and infrastructure that stay-in-place types typically take for granted.

His own children, also born to the life, have had mixed feelings about it. Elder son Leroy is now an electrician who prefers the comforts of suburbia. Daughter Elle briefly went to university in Newcastle before returning to the showie world, and laments the difficulties involved in finding a romantic partner when you’re in a new town every week. “It’s like a running joke in our family that I’m gonna be single forever,” she notes at one point.

And then there’s Roy, named for his grandfather who ran a boxing tent back in the day before new regulations introduced in the 1970s put an end to fighting under the canvas. A cheeky 15-year-old when the documentary first meets him, Roy has a baby with fiancée Caitlin by the time the credits roll, and is running his own rides.

Roy grew up not only on showgrounds, but in director Isabel Darling’s lens.

He remembers “I was just a little kid running amok (then) all of a sudden there was this good-looking girl with a camera, so I just played up for her.”

Images: The Bell family share their life on the road in 'The Carnival' (top) and Elle and Roy Bell (below). Credit: Sideshow Films.

Related Articles

24th March 2024 - 2024 Sydney Royal Easter Show underway at Olympic Park

20th February 2024 - Showmen’s Guild of Australasia seals new carnival agreement for the Royal Canberra Show

2nd February 2024 - Peak body for NSW’s agricultural shows welcomes new Chief Executive

22nd December 2023 - Small Business Ombudsman admits failure to achieve attractions industry DMF

18th December 2023 - Bells Family Carnival the subject of a feature-length documentary

25th November 2023 - Coroner rules that boy’s 2017 carnival ride death was preventable

12th June 2023 - Sunshine Coast Agricultural Show to deliver traditional and ‘high-octane’ entertainment

14th March 2023 - SafeWork NSW scrutinises ride safety at agricultural and country shows

29th July 2022 - Rising Melbourne Royal Show carnival prices a result of increased insurance costs for ride operators

24th May 2022 - AALARA reaffirms commitment to industry safety

4th May 2022 - Fearing for the future of the amusement and attractions industry AALARA and the Showmen’s Guilds announce stop work campaign

18th January 2022 - Australian Government offers $8.3 million to support travelling showmen and women

19th March 2021 - 378 agricultural shows receive almost $34 million in payments

4th September 2019 - Rider suffers suspected spinal injury at Royal Adelaide Show carnival

9th August 2019 - Ekka prioritises amusement ride safety

17th July 2017 - Report show multiple WorkSafe Victoria safety improvement notices slapped on carnival rides

30th May 2017 - Brother and sisters from travelling show family killed in NSW highway crash

17th May 2016 - QCAS helps Maleny Agricultural Show make the most digital technology

10th May 2016 - ACCC settles case against Showmen’s Guild

24th October 2014 - Princess Anne praises cultural and social heritage of Australian agricultural shows

19th May 2008 - Travelling Shows Face Major Challenges

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.

Click here to view our subscription options.