The show was briefly put on ice last year after the association said it was not financially viable. Photo / RNZ, Nate McKinnon
By Anna Sargent of RNZ
Flocks of farm animals and food vendors are set to welcome thousands of people to Canterbury’s annual Agricultural & Pastoral Show, which is back with a more prestigious title.
The Royal A&P Show of New Zealand, hosted by the Canterbury A&P Association, is being held from Thursday to Saturday.
It is the 162nd year of the event, with organisers promising a return to “full strength” after last year’s scaled-back show.
The show was briefly put on ice last year after the association said it was not financially viable.
But after a $5 million injection from the Christchurch City Council and an almost complete overhaul of the board, it was resurrected in a downscaled format by the Event Hire company.
Alongside traditional events such as sheep shearing and wood chopping, this year there was a new wool marquee with more than 30 exhibitors and a cowboy competition for horses and riders.
Canterbury A&P Association chairman Sir David Carter said it was wonderful that the show had received royal status, the first time since 2010.
“The Royal Agricultural Society saw the way that we’d put the show together last year at very short notice; they were impressed by that,” he said.
“They approached us and asked us whether we’d consider being a royal show for 2025.
“We agreed, and it has meant increased interest in the show, increased livestock entries, more exhibits and trade shows and ticket sales.
“We’re excited to see the show back to full strength after a challenging year in 2024.”
Carter said the show had attracted more than 400 trade sites, and livestock entries were well up on last year, with an increase in dairy cattle to 380, 267 beef cattle entries and more than 700 sheep.
It was the second year the show would run until Saturday.
“We trialled Saturday last year and it worked really well for us,” Carter said.
“It means that if show day itself is wet - the day we traditionally used to get the biggest crowds - then there’s also Saturday.
“The other real benefit is a reduction in traffic congestion on show day because the Saturday is available.”
Carter said the wool exhibition was a highlight this year.
“We’ve got a large site devoted entirely to the industry of wool, which is going under somewhat of a rejuvenation of interest.
“Included in that will be fashion shows both on Friday and Saturday, which will take place around midday and in the shearing pavilion.”
Andrew Stokes ran cattle competitions at the show.
His family had been involved with the Canterbury show for more than 70 years.
“Livestock entries are very good; we had a massive year in the dairy side of things,” he said.
“There’s new exhibitors coming on, which is really great to see the next generation starting to come through.
“One of our oldest exhibitors, she’s 83 years old and still there cooking breakfast and leading cattle around, so it’s good to see her wisdom going into the younger kids in the dairy side.”
Stokes said he got a buzz out of meeting people and explaining the farming life to people in town.
Competition Christmas cakes and preserves were on display at the show.
Organiser Anne Rogers said it was the third year the cake competition was running, and this year they decided to add sauces, pickles, raspberry jam and marmalade.
She said a lot went into crafting the perfect Christmas cake.
“It’s quite tricky getting that perfect mix of fruit and cutting it up to be the right size, cooking it for long enough, you basically have to dry a Christmas cake rather than cook it,” she said.
“Judges look for texture, taste and appearance when they’re judging.
“It’s got to look good, edges need to be nice and square, it needs to be uniform, it needs to have a nice top on it, it needs to taste really good, and it needs to be the right texture inside.”
Rogers said the products were judged last weekend, and the champion Christmas cake met the most points in that criterion while the winning preserve was a raspberry jam.
Carter said the Canterbury A&P Association was on track to become financially sustainable and had no plans to ask the council for more money.
The association had received a $250,000 council funding package across two years, on top of a $5 million bailout last year.
- RNZ