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Organisers of the Hāwea picnic races, one of the oldest community racing events in New Zealand, are calling for more volunteers to keep the horses running.
Last year the races, which are usually held on December 28, were cancelled due to a lack of entries.
This year they are due to take place on December 30, to attract racing enthusiasts from the South, Hāwea Flat resident Gerry Shaw said.
The Gore harness racing meeting will be held on December 27.
Mr Shaw said the Hāwea Picnic Racing Club was in desperate need of new members to help keep the community event alive.
The club’s annual meeting is on October 1 at 7.30pm at the Lake Hāwea community centre, and it would be an opportunity for anyone to come and hear what the day was all about.
"We urgently need people. Most are volunteers.
"We didn’t run one [race day] last year as we didn’t have the people and that was a shame."
The picnic meeting has been running since 1946 and has only been cancelled on two other occasions: once for bad weather and once due to Covid-19.
"It is just a fun day out and it is really family-oriented. It’s bring your own and not expensive."
The group held a meeting last week and only had six people show up. Mr Shaw said they need more.
The races usually attracted at least 1500 visitors and in the past had hosted seven races, plus a full schedule of other family entertainment during the day.
However, with dwindling entries in 2023, just five races were held. There was never a problem drawing a crowd to watch, but entries were just not coming in.