N.Z. boost to big fair

Press, 30 July 1985, Page 2

N.Z. boost to big fair

PA Wanganui New Zealand initiative has helped transform plans for a world sheep and wool congress in Canada next year. A Wanganui farmer, Mr Cam Campion, the only New Zealander on the organising committee for the conference, persuaded the congress committee to hold the event in Edmonton, Canada, to coincide with a world trade fair in that city. The annual fair drew up

to 600,000 visitors to the city. “It’s very much a New Zealand initiative which got the thing set up the way it is now,” Mr Campion said. The congress committee had booked 60 per cent of the Edmonton trade show complex, including a covered stadium with seating for 100,000 people. A world shearing championship might also be run in conjunction with the congress, Mr Campion said. The

Canadians believed such an event would draw a crowd of about 70,000. Space for more than 270 New Zealand sheep had been reserved on a Flying Tiger aircraft for transport to Canada, he said. “We would like sheep breeders in New Zealand to come forward with their good animals,” he said. “It’s not just as if we are only going to Canada to sell. We will be promoting in front of the world.”