Canterbury A&P Show facts for kids

The New Zealand Agricultural Show
Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association's Metropolitan Show, held at the Addington Showgrounds, c. 1910
Status	active
Date(s)	15–17 November 2023
Frequency	Annually
Venue	Canterbury Agricultural Park (since 1997)
Location(s)	Wigram, Christchurch
Country	New Zealand
Years active	162
Inaugurated	22 October 1862 (1862-10-22)
Founder	Canterbury A&P Association
Previous event	9–11 November 2022
Next event	15–17 November 2023
Participants	5000 competitors and over 3000 animals on-site
Attendance	Over 100,000
People	President – Anne Rogers.
Member	2500 financial members

The New Zealand Agricultural Show is a super exciting event! It used to be called the Canterbury A&P Show. This huge show is put on by the Canterbury A&P Association. It's the biggest farming and animal show in all of New Zealand.

The show mixes agriculture (farming) with lots of fun entertainment. Since 1997, when it moved to Canterbury Agricultural Park, over a million people have visited. Each year, about 100,000 people come to see the show. You can also see over 5,000 livestock (farm animals) and more than 600 different businesses showing off their products.

History of the New Zealand Agricultural Show

The very first farming and animal show in Christchurch happened a long time ago. It was on October 22, 1862. This first show was held in a field near Latimer Square.

A few weeks later, the Canterbury A&P Association was started. This was on January 23, 1863. Robert Wilkin was their first leader. In April 1863, the Association bought some land for the show. This land is now called Sydenham Park. Later, in November 1887, new show grounds opened in Addington.

In 1996, the show needed an even bigger space. They bought a huge area of land in Wigram. This new place was special because it was the first show ground in New Zealand built just for this purpose. It was named Canterbury Agricultural Park. The first show held there was in 1997.

In 2018, the show changed its name to the New Zealand Agricultural Show. This was because it had grown to be more than just a farming trade show. It became a big outdoor event with shopping, learning, and entertainment for everyone.

The show has only been cancelled a few times. It was cancelled in 1919, 2020, and 2021 because of health lockdowns. It was also cancelled in 2024 due to money problems. In 2022, 115,000 people visited. In 2023, even more people came, with 125,000 visitors!

Show Day: A Special Holiday

New Zealand has a special holiday for each region called an "anniversary day." For the Canterbury Province, this holiday used to be on December 16. This day marked when the first two ships, the Charlotte Jane and the Randolph, arrived in 1850.

For a long time, the Friday of the A&P Show was known as "People's Day" or "Show Day." Sometime between 1955 and 1958, the Christchurch City Council decided to move the official anniversary day. They made it happen on Show Day. This meant banks and businesses could close, letting everyone go to the big show!

Show Day is usually the second Friday after the first Tuesday in November. This timing helps make sure it doesn't happen at the same time as the Melbourne Cup horse race in Australia. The Show Day holiday is celebrated in mid and North Canterbury. South Canterbury has a different holiday.

Christchurch/Canterbury New Zealand Cup Week

The New Zealand Agricultural Show happens during a very exciting time called Cup Week. This week is full of major horse and greyhound races.

Some of the big races include:

• The New Zealand Trotting Cup for harness racing (where horses pull a cart) on Tuesday at Addington Raceway.
• The New Zealand Cup for Greyhounds (dog racing) on Thursday at Addington Raceway.
• The New Zealand Cup for thoroughbred racing (galloping horses) on Saturday at Riccarton Park Racecourse.

There are many other important races during this special week too!

See also

• Harness racing in New Zealand
• Thoroughbred racing in New Zealand