The show must go on: Hawke's Bay A&P Show will have all the fun of the fair

Rides will still happen at the Hawke's Bay Show, in a four-day fairground carnival, the 75th show for Mahons Amusements which first appeared at the show in 1946. Photo / File

Doug Laing

A four-day fair-ground carnival open to the public has been confirmed for the Hawke's Bay A&P Show in Hastings next month following the relaxation of the Covid-19 alert levels.

While competitor classes of the historical show open on October 21, the Thursday-Sunday carnival will start the next day, extending past the usual public-holiday People's Day into Labour weekend.

Featuring the Mahons Amusements rides, the carnival will be held in what A&P Society general manager Sally Jackson calls the "front paddock" - the Karamu Rd-Kenilworth Rd corner block of the expansive Hawke's Bay Showgrounds Hawke's Bay Tomoana.

There will be free entry to the fairground but usual ride costs will still apply, enabling Mahons Amusements to take part in what has been one of the company's biggest annual events since it first appeared at the Hawke's Bay show in 1946.

Jackson said the association and Mahons were confident that, if higher pandemic alert levels were reintroduced, the carnival could still be held in level 2 - by meeting conditions such as distancing on the rides similar to those which might apply on aircraft and other public transport.

The carnival will be separate from the competitor areas of the shows, which are still not expected to be open to the public, such as horse events, including the World Cup Showjumping qualifying round.

The Great Raihania Shears shearing and woolhandling competitions, which had been cancelled, are now back on, with organiser and shearing contractor Colin Watson Paul saying on Friday that support for staging the championships in the level 1 environment led to the situation being reconsidered.

At least six pre-Christmas A&P shows throughout the country have been cancelled, including the Wairarapa show in Carterton and the Manawatu show in Feilding, although the first of the season in the North Island, the Poverty Bay A&P Show a week earlier in Gisborne, will still be held.

Jackson said the society, which marked its 150th anniversary in 2013, was determined to support the competitors. Many of the events were pathways to greater goals, such as world cups and the Olympic Games.

Two weeks ago, just ahead of the relaxation of the alert levels, the society announced it would go ahead with a competitor-only show, with separation of the sports across the showgrounds to help meet whatever requirements might be in place relating to larger gatherings.

She says it maintains the spirit and tradition which enabled Hawke's Bay to stage shows in the 1940s, despite the absence of thousands abroad during World War II.