The 48th annual New Zealand Merino Shearing Championships have attracted 180 entries from shearers and woolhandlers throughout New Zealand, as well as seven Australian competitors.
Heats begin tomorrow, and finals will take place on Saturday night.
Championship publicity officer Mervyn Kinaston said entries were up by about 40 on last year's figures and "all the ingredients are there for a very successful show".
A team of volunteers was working at the venue yesterday, placing 80 sheets of particle board down to protect the floor of the stadium.
A shearing board, sheep pens and board for the woolhandlers will also be constructed on site.
The Alexandra event is a compulsory round in the PGG Wrightson national circuit, which is completed at the Golden Shears in March.
"It's the only compulsory round in the circuit, as we're the only national merino championship.
That's boosted our entries in the open section to 49," Mr Kinaston said.
Te Kuiti shearer James Fagan will defend the open title he won for the first time last year.
His competition includes his uncle David, who has won the Golden Shears 16 times, Rakaia shearer Tony Coster and Nathan Stratford, of Invercargill, who won the Waitaki Merino Shears open shearing title last weekend.
Last year's open woolhandling winner, George Hawkins, of Martinborough, will also be defending his title.
Waitaki Shears woolhandling open winner, Joel Henare, of Gisborne, is another contender for the national title, along with Alexandra shearing contractor Elsie Lyon, who made the final last year.
Open, senior and junior woolhandling section semifinals will take place tomorrow, along with the team event heats.
Twenty teams have entered the championships this year, compared with 12 in 2008.
A "Bendigo versus New Zealand" invitational teams event will be another highlight of tomorrow's programme.
The Australian contingent at the championships comprises two Western Australian shearers, and two shearers and three woolhandlers from Bendigo.
They will also feature in a transtasman shearing challenge on Saturday.
