Huge trade display at Canterbury show

Press, 12 November 1985, Page 32

Huge trade display at Canterbury show

About 200 trade exhibitors will display their products and services at the Canterbury show this week. Mr Noel Woods, director of the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association, said every available square metre of the Addington showground would be filled by exhibits. Several firms intended using the show to launch new products and equipment, said Mr Woods. The number of stock entries was surprisingly good considering the depressed state of the agricultural sector, said Mr Woods. Horse entries have increased on last year’s total and sheep and cattle numbers are only slightly down. The show will be the 123rd organised by the association. As well as a

huge trade display, the show will include a full programme of showjumping by New Zealand’s leading combinations.

The big event for showjumping will be the third qualifying round for the World Cup on Friday which has attracted several North Island riders and their horses. The Rutherford Cup will be at stake in a team event on Thursday evening. The Ballantyne AM3 showjumping event on Thursday afternoon will give the A grade horses a chance to have a good work-out before the Rutherford Cup and World Cup events.

The theme of a special exhibition in Canterbury Court, sponsored by the Bank of New Zealand, will be “Opportunities in Agriculture/’ This display has been organised to tie in with the Fifth World Congress of Young Farmers. Activities in Canterbury Court Will include fashion parades, a farm skills contest, and cooking competitions. There will be displays by agricultural organisations and firms to highlight opportunities in agriculture. Mr Woods said the exhibition was being staged at an opportune time when the farming industry was under pressure to become more efficient.

Shearing competitions, which have been popular at previous shows, will be staged in the selling centre, at the northern end of the sheep pavilion. The shearing events will include the Canterbury Golden Shears for blade shearers, and the New Zealand Corriedale Championships, which incorporates the third leg of the Caltex national circuit. Decorated cakes form a new class at this year’s show and cake-decorating demonstrations will be given by the Canterbury Cake Decorators Guild, A wide range of young animals and birds will be included in the animal nur-

sery where children can see these animals at close quarters. Neville Barrie will provide singing entertainment in the nursery. The show will open late on Thursday evening when a programme of varied entertainment will be presented in the main ring. This will include an inter-island woodsawing relay, a scurry event for Shetland ponies, a musical quadrille, a costume parade by Arab horses, and a massed pipe band display. A full range of catering will be available including sit-down meals, take-aways and on Thursday evening a barbecue. Car parking will be available at the Addington raceway and on Friday there will be free parking at the Riccarton Mall. Buses will provide a continuous service on Friday between the mall and the showground. Admission charges will be $5 for adults and ?2 for children. The gates will open to the public at 7 a.m. each day and close at 5 p.m. tomorrow and Friday. The show will remain open to 9.30 p.m. on Thursday. Stock entry numbers, with last year’s figures in brackets, are: Horses 1617 (1560), dog trial 65 (73), sheep 1379 (1479), cattle 920 (1002), pigs 133 (149), goats 74 (68), wine 167 (136). .