The community had rallied to make the 118th show "bigger and better" in response to last year’s cancellation due to Covid-19 restrictions, secretary Michelle Tisdall said.
"Everyone is really getting into it and is excited to have this show because not having this show was gutting for the community."
More than 50 stallholders had registered for the show — more than six times the number which featured in 2019.
The show was the biggest in living memory, she said.
New events had been added to the schedule of show favourites.
A show favourite was the Couple Carry Competition — in which a contestant carried someone across a course of obstacles, such as hay bales and paddling pools.
The Angus McCutcheon Memorial Lawnmower Race, in which competitors raced a fleet of ride-ons, was "always popular".
The Musterers Race was also a "big hit" at the show.
For the race, two competitors and a horse worked as a team to complete a range of tasks such as cracking a stock whip and towing someone behind a horse.
A Junior Handy Hunter Competition was similar tothe musterers race — "but no-one is a chugging a beer in that one".
Another challenge for children was the Rural Kids Comp, run by the Strath Taieri Young Farmers Club.
Teams of three contestants, aged from 6 to 15, would complete a range of tasks including setting up an electric fence, blowing a dog whistle and setting up a drench gun.
The Strath Taieri Collie Club would hold a demonstration showcasing the valley’s finest working dogs and their handlers
The demonstration would feature a head and hunt and a speed shear.
A range of animals would feature at the show.
Prizes would be given to the best calf, best lamb, best-dressed pet and best dogs — big and small.
The flower competition included a class for "roadside arrangements".
The home produce competition featured classes including heaviest egg.
The bacon and egg pie class in the baking section could only be entered by men.
Free children’s entertainment at the show included archery, bouncy castle, a digger and a Noddy train.
Country singer Casey Evans, of the Catlins, was set to perform.
Entry to the show is free. Gates open at the Middlemarch A&P Showgrounds at 8am.
