Young Wanaka residents model citizens ahead of Wanaka A&P Show

The faces of Wanaka's A&P show are (from left) Angus Scurr (4), Charlotte Crosbie (5), Hunter Mclay (6), Nova Strudwick (6) and Bailey Blackmore (7). Photo: Stephen Jaquiery

Angus Scurr is a model child.

The Cardrona Valley youngster - sixth-generation on the land - appears on billboards around Wanaka ahead of the town's A&P Show this week.

Angus (4) is joined by fellow "models" Charlotte Crosbie (5), Hunter Mclay (6), Nova Strudwick (6) and Bailey Blackmore (7) as part of an innovative promotional campaign.
Call Me Local was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek exploration into how long a person had to live in Wanaka before they were considered a local.

Charlotte's mother Celia Crosbie, the managing director of Scope Media, laughingly recalled how she had been in the town for two days when she was told "you're not local until you've been here 30 years".

While playing on that idea, those behind the organisation of the show wanted it to demonstrate that "it's not about how long you've been here, but what you do here that counts".

The five children came from different areas of the Upper Clutha area and were dressed to represent facets of the show and the community - farming, fashion, rugby, sustainability and horse riding.

Bailey was particularly excited to be riding her pony Gundagai Murrawagga in the first ridden section, making her show riding debut, while Nova enjoyed looking at her art entries.

All five would be making an appearance in the show's traditional grand parade on Saturday, being driven around in a car.

As well as the billboards, there were also videos released that featured locals discussing what it meant to be a Wanaka local.

The Wanaka A & P Show, which is on this Friday and Saturday, is one of the country's largest agricultural and pastoral events, attracting more than 40,000 people.

It was estimated to bring more than $10.9 million worth of direct economic benefit to the local community each year.