The Amberley A&P Show will celebrate 125 years of horsepower at the Amberley Domain on Saturday, October 31.
The annual show started out as a horse show before opening up to wider entries a few years later, committee member Rachel Barton says.
To mark the occasion, the show committee is planning to have a slideshow of photos from yesterday, while snippets from the past are being shared on the Amberley A&P Show page on Facebook.
Horses will feature once again, with the stock and station competition back for the first time in several years, alongside the usual horse and pony classes.
Entries are down in the Pavilion classes, but it will still be bursting with colour and creativity, with
everything from honey, eggs and cookery to flowers, photography and art competing for prizes.
There is a new class this year for local tradies, with the men’s baking slice competition, and a special 125th pound / butter cake class for “a cake of earlier days”.
“We’re encouraging men to enter. You can pre-enter, and we’ve had a few entries already, but entries are also accepted on the day,” Ms Barton says.
Families have pre-entered the car boot show day picnic class, where they can park up ringside and have their car boot picnic judged for a cash prize.
There are also the usual Pavilion classes for baking, home preserves, crafts, flowers, vegetables, art, photography, construction and school work.
Most Pavilion classes accept entries on the day, except for school work classes, with entries via local schools, while car boot picnic entries closed last week, and photography and art entries must be in by 6pm on Friday, October 30.
The Amberley Line Dancers will be giving a demonstration in the Pavilion from 1.30pm.
Pet lambs, pet dogs, decorated bikes and other classes can also enter on the day, so check out the details on the Amberley A&P Show page on Facebook.
Once again there will be lots of trade sites and stalls selling food, crafts, plants books, hats, health supplies and more, while farmers can support the North Canterbury machinery suppliers.
Sturgeons sideshows is continuing to support the show after around 60 years.
At 3pm attention turns to the grade parade in the main arena.
There will be a large vintage machinery display, including traction engines, with exhibitors coming from as far afield as Waiau and Mid Canterbury.
It will include some old fashioned trade site displays, including what machinery dealers’ sites would have looked like in the 1950s and 1970s.
Other popular attractions include the pet tent, run by North Canterbury Vets, the terrier race, the highland dancers, the woodchopping competition and the McAlpine’s Caledonian Pipe Band.
Brew Moon will be running a bar on site, with a late license until 7pm, with music by Ryan Ferris.
Other displays will be the Amberley Volunteer Fire Brigade demonstration and the Kowhai Archives Society, while political parties will be out in force seeking your vote ahead of the November 7 general election.
The Amberley A&P Show committee wishes to thank is Platinum sponsors Datum Surveying, GVT Landlines, Harris Farms, North Canterbury Equipment, North Canterbury Veterinary Clinics Ltd, PGG Wrightson, Wrapt Labels, Totalspan North Canterbury and all the other sponsors.