Fine weather forecast for 136th Kaitāia A&P Show

There will be no washing cows at this year's Kaitaia A&P Show.

In the more than 130 years it has been entertaining Far North folk, only war, atrocious weather and a global pandemic have stopped the annual Kaitāia A&P Show.

And with the show back for its 136th edition at the South Rd A&P Showgrounds on Saturday, the weather is looking good, meaning the popular show is set to take off. MetService is predicting a sunny day with a high of 26C, so the “slip, slop, slap and wrap” sun-safe message will be very relevant.

There’ll be plenty of the usual A&P Show attractions to keep the big crowd happy, and this year the show’s indoor section will be trying a new format. Entries will now be taken on Friday morning from 9am until 1pm.

Judging will be done on Friday afternoon and the hall will be open to the public on Saturday only from 9am to 3pm, with a $2 door charge. All entries can be collected from 3.30pm

The indoor schedule is available online at the Kaitāia A&P Show’s Facebook page.

Organiser Bronwyn Travers said the forecast was predicting fine weather on the day, so she was hopeful last year’s crowd of around 3500 would be topped at this year’s show.

The Kaitāia event is self-proclaimed as the “top” A&P show in the country and has been running since its inception in 1886 - making it the oldest community-run event in the district.

Travers said all the traditional A&P Show attractions will be at the showgrounds: equestrian events, the ever-popular sheep racing, ponies, animals, fairground attractions, stalls and plenty of family fun.

“We pride ourselves on being a family-friendly fun place, and that’s why all the rides are free once people pay the entrance fee of $10 for adults and $5 for 5-15-year-olds, with under-5s free.”

A full schedule of events can be found at www.ras.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Final-Kaitaia-Schedule-2024-.docx.pdf.