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A heavy youth focus with a splash of art is being introduced for next month’s New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch after two years of cancellation due to Covid-19.
A long list of challenges has failed to derail the event, including general manager Tracy Ahern recovering from falling down a bank while tramping in June and being airlifted to hospital.
There has also been staff illness, price hikes and supply delays, as well as a new team finding its feet and the challenges of finding sponsorship to cushion the A&P Canterbury Association’s $1 million loan over 10 years by the Christchurch City Council.
The three-day show starts on November 9.
Mrs Ahern said the setbacks had forced them to bring in innovation to ensure the longevity of New Zealand’s largest agricultural show.
"Our board is focused on a new future-proofed strategy. We definitely had to rethink because it just wasn’t financially viable to keep relying on two weeks of income a year to keep the show alive, yet alone grow it."
She said they had brought in a youth focus linked to showcasing pathways to rural employment.
"They are who we need to keep this 159-year-old organisation going and if we are to be the world’s farming leaders we need youth leaders."
Gate fees are being dropped for children under 18 years and the Clash of the Colleges is a new 15-module competition open to secondary schools.
Teams face tasks such as identifying animal anatomy, condition scoring of sheep, wool classing, identifying seeds and weeds, applying drench, tying knots, safety, aspects of fencing, and putting together a shearing hand piece.
Another addition is a Cows in the Park competition with mostly young artists aged under 25-years-old taking their artistic flair to life-size fibreglass cows measuring 1.5 metres tall. The painted cows will be auctioned with the winner producing the highest bidding art work.
Graffiti artists have also been brought in to liven up electric boxes and add "vibrancy" to the site.
Mrs Ahern said the competition was part of uplifting the rural sector with art and all the designs entered by the art finalists had a rural theme.
Traditional events had not been ignored and livestock exhibitor numbers were at record levels, with another marquee added to cater for increased cattle numbers, she said,
New sponsors and corporate hosting have been brought on board, and evening entertainment introduced for the first time at the Cassels BaaBaa Bar.
The brewery’s unspecified anchor contribution is among new and existing sponsors supporting the show after forced cancellations.
Mrs Ahern said this showed the strength of support for the show.
She said organisers were determined to halve waste at the event, with sustainable sourcing, reducing or re-using materials, a bus service and encouraging cycling with more cycle racks.
"Materials will be measured, tracked, and reused or donated to community organisations and schools at the conclusion of the event."
The show was one of the few events where people could go for old fashioned, inter-generational family fun, she said.
"We want to help every child get a taste of rural life – many kids don’t have that opportunity."
