Hawke's Bay A & P Show ticket prices slashed: Livestock events to go ahead too

Hawke's Bay A & P Society general manager Sally Jackson. Photo / File.

In a world where everything from petrol to food is getting more expensive, a slice of Hawke's Bay fun is getting cheaper.

Ticket prices to the annual Royal A & P Show, which starts next Wednesday, have been slashed this year, thanks to a new partnership between the Hawke's Bay A & P Society and Hastings District Council.

Running from October 17 to 19, family day passes for two adults and four children have dropped from $45 to $30, adult passes have decreased from $16 to $12 and children aged between 5 and 13 years will get in for $8.

Ticket prices for senior citizens and students with ID are $10.

Hastings ambassador Henare O'Keefe welcomed the price changes, saying the Royal A & P Show was about community and families.

"I'm so pleased this has been recognised by the reduced ticket prices, as over the years many families have been deprived of the enjoyment of an A & P show because of cost."

Hawke's Bay A & P Society general manager Sally Jackson said the society was incredibly proud of the show and its importance to the community.

"This event is iconic for the Hawke's Bay region, driven by a dedicated team of volunteers and sponsors. It has been wonderful to work with Hastings District Council to allow the reduction in prices to occur.

"We are really excited those prices have dropped, particularly for the families - those prices have now dropped to $30 and we have also increased how many people you can bring on those passes.

"The whole point of the A and P show is to bring the community together to experience all sorts of things from the rural side of life and it's amazing to be able to attract new people in to actually see what's going on.

"We have some of the country's best and most prestigious equine and livestock events going on over the three days."

This year's show, at Showgrounds Hawke's Bay, will be honouring its rural traditions and the legacy of the agriculture and pastoral legends who created the event more than 155 years ago.

Jackson said it was also "wonderful" that the event's cattle and bovine categories would still go ahead, after extra precautions were taken against M. bovis.

"We've been working really closely with MPI to make sure that all the cattle and exhibitors are safe and we have really strong cattle entries. They are all aware of the rules and it's fantastic we've been able to go ahead with it whereas across the country people have been cancelling it."

The focus would be placed back on the animals, the competitions, the prestige associated with winning the top prizes, and displaying the best-of-the-best livestock to the thousands who attend each day of the event.

There will be hundreds of horses, ponies, sheep, cattle, alpaca, dogs, pigs, poultry and more – including a large group of Clydesdales travelling from the South Island for the event.

Alongside all the other activities the famous Mahons carnival rides are back and other key attractions will be Hawke's Bay Regional Council's Nature's Shed and the New Zealand Edible Garden area.

Other crowd-pleasers will be appearances by "The Bug Man" Ruud Kleinpaste, chef Ray McVinnie, and local food hero Henry Heke.

For more information go to the Showgrounds Hawke's Bay Tomoana website: www.showgroundshb.co.nz