THERE are few places in Sydney where you can orient yourself by an amphitheatre and a milking barn, but the uniqueness of the Sydney Royal Easter Show has a strange familiarity about it. It generates a fervour - and a smell - that is rarely replicated any other time of the year.

As thousands of people roll through the gates for the show's first day today, the months of preparation might be unnoticed.

Yesterday cow tails were brushed, sheep bathed and horse hooves manicured as the final preparations were made to the more than 14,000 livestock at the show. The open-mouthed clown heads were polished, the last food van hooked up to electricity, and the last apple put in place for the district exhibits. Phones rang relentlessly at the Royal Agricultural Society, and an army of staff in reflector jackets buzzed around the streets of the showground.

Joelle Nye and Hollie Stanton, both 15, were soaken by midday after being woken about 5am to start their day bathing animals for the farmyard nursery. "They're getting treated like stars," Joelle said as she scooped up a lamb for bathing and fluffing up ready for the first children today.

The pair will spend the next two weeks helping the 500 or so visitors expected in the nursery at any one time. Part of their role is ensure children don't "over-love" the animals.

Organisers are expecting a big crowd this year, despite the slowing economy.

"For a lot of families there's no doubt they won't travel, and they'll be looking for things to do around Sydney," said the show general manager, Michael Collins. "The show's the best place to come [for that]."

Today is the only day of the show that coincides with the school term, and organisers hope that numbers will be up for the entire two weeks.

Dairy Australia is taking advantage of the cross-over, teaching visiting primary school students about the dairy industry and nutrition. School groups will paint acrylic cows, which they can keep, as part of the program. The competition will be judged tomorrow by a panel, including Ben Honey from the TV show The Farmer Wants A Wife.