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Canterbury secures Royal status
The Canterbury A&P Association has been granted approval by The Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand (RAS) to host the Royal New Zealand Show for the next four years, until 2009 inclusive.
The Royal New Zealand Show’s current rotational format between Palmerston North, Hawke’s Bay, Hamilton, Invercargill and Christchurch will be discontinued following a decision made by the RAS Executive late November 2005.
The Canterbury A&P Show will be re-branded early in the new year and promoted to a national and international audience as the Royal New Zealand Show.
Canterbury A&P Association President Stuart McLean sees the venture as a monumental achievement for Canterbury and one that will provide extensive benefit to the future sustainability and growth of both the Canterbury A&P Association and the RAS.
“There is no doubt that we now have the opportunity to position the Royal New Zealand Show as a showcase for international agricultural excellence while continuing to build on our long and successful reputation for bringing the country to town”. “The Board and Committee are genuinely excited about what the future holds for the Canterbury A&P Association”, McLean said.
A Royal Show holds more kudos for livestock exhibitors, with international judges and increased competition for the more prestigious event. This in turn affects trade exhibitor numbers and visitor attendance at the event
A single destination host for the Royal New Zealand Show will provide an opportunity to significantly grow the event and take advantage of the increased profile for the Royal Show to generate exposure and economic impact through business, international trade opportunities and tourism.
Mick Lester, President of the RAS is equally thrilled with the decision. The RAS sees it as an opportunity to build the icon event into a truly international Show which can be referred to in the same breath as similar shows run by other Royal Agricultural Societies overseas, such as Sydney and England.
“The Royal New Zealand Show has been hosted in different parts of New Zealand on a rotational basis since 1924.” “The move away from this is probably one of the boldest moves ever made by the RAS and demonstrates our determination to lift the profile of the whole A&P movement up several notches”, Lester said.
The Canterbury A&P Association has received support from business, government and tourism who all see the potential for growth of an already successful event.
The Canterbury A&P Show in its current format is the largest A&P Show in the country and held at New Zealand’s first purpose built Show facility. It is the premier event in Canterbury’s agricultural and entertainment programme, attracting over 100,000 people over three days, over 5000 livestock entries and over 400 trade exhibitors.
The Canterbury A&P Association will host the Royal New Zealand Show in Christchurch from 15 to 17 November 2006.