It was a heartbreaking decision which had gutted committee members, association secretary Pip Ivey said.
However, with the printing of the show schedule looming, and no ‘‘bright line on the horizon’’ over a move from the Red traffic light protection framework, the call was made, she said.
The committee had been very stringent with spending and kept costs low for as long as possible, she said.
But had to commit to the print now, if it was going to go ahead.
Show president Ben McIntosh advised members and stallholders before making a public announcement.
He said it was ‘‘with regret the Methven A&P Committee wishes to advise that under the current traffic light status the decision has been made to cancel the 2022 show.’’
‘‘In keeping with the spirit of the show, the childrens spud in a bucket and colouring competitions, gift calf and gift lamb auctions and competitions, wheat competitions and the tertiary scholarship will all continue,’’ he said.
Provisions would be made in due course to collect and publicly display all spud buckets and colouring-in efforts.
‘‘To all those individuals and businesses that have already invested in our 2022 show we will be in touch personally to discuss viable options to continue your 2022 sponsorship or refunds as neccessary.’’
‘‘We thank our Methven A&P community for your continued support and assure you that our commitment and enthusiasm will not diminish. We look forward to seeing you in 2023.’’
Ms Ivey said a lot of work had already gone into work on the showgrounds this year with plantings and clean up from strong winds last September, but the committee had an active year planned and would take the extra time now to resurface the grounds and resow grass where needed.
The Mayfield A&P Show, due to run the weekend ahead of the Methven show, is due to make a decision on the running of its annual event for March 12 in the coming days but for now planning was still under way.
