From cute tots parading with pets, champion sheep and fleece and prancing horses to members of Parliament, the mayor and nationally recognised magician The Magic Guy Wayne McEwan, of Invercargill, there truly was something for everyone.
Waitaki MP Miles Anderson and Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister of Agriculture Mark Patterson were meeting and greeting show-goers, who turned out in force to enjoy the glorious weather.
Opening the 128th show, president Dayna Paterson paid tribute to the memory of life member Brent Hickey.
"We will not pause for a moment, as he would not have wanted that. Last year his advice to me was ‘Dayna, we cannot have those horses standing out there for too long — move on’. So we will."
Central Otago Mayor Tamah Alley said it was wonderful to have town and country coming together for the show.
She acknowledged the tremendous amount of work by the volunteer committee to ensure the show was the success it was.
Mr Anderson said the mood at the show reflected rural communities at the moment.
"There’s a lot of positivity around — so long may it last."
Mr Patterson congratulated the committee on a fantastic show.
"In my time in farming I don’t know that I’ve known a better time than this ... weather conditions and commodity prices across the board, it’s just a fantastic time to be in our rural communities."
The standard of the stock in show matched anything in any show around the country and was a testament to the stock to come out of the area, he said.
New Zealand curler Jed Neville officially opened the show. He is the sixth generation of his Moa Creek family and was last year’s Central Otago A&P Show scholarship winner.
From stock to handcrafts everything that happens in rural communities was on display.
Leading a bull in the show ring for the first time was thrill for Hannah Hunt, 13, of Gore. She had been showing cattle since she was 7 years old but it was her first time in the big ring.
She was in charge of Lilly’s Leaf Motto, a 17-month-old dun Galloway which won overall beef champion bull.
In the handcraft pavilion Mary Boyd was delighted with third place for her hand-knitted bed jacket.
"My husband said ‘you’ll never wear it — it’s too good’ and he was right."
One of the most eye-catching outfits at the show was worn by Central Otago District Council water services support staff member Julie Clarke.
Ms Clarke was draped in net covered in items representing things that clogged sewerage pipes and cost ratepayers to clear.
"We spent $80,000 unclogging one blockage," she said.
The cost was borne by ratepayers, so it paid not to "flush and forget", she said.
"Even if the package of wet wipes says it’s flushable, it’s not. We all end up paying for it."
She recommended finding alternatives such as using facecloths or products that could be sprayed on to toilet paper to do the same job.
