Good weather, new events and plenty of entertainment ensured the Ashburton A&P Show was ‘‘really awesome’’.
That is according to show president Ben Stock.
‘‘We’ve had really, really positive feedback.’’
However, improvements would be made as organisers looked for new and fun ideas for next year.
The show, which ran last Friday and Saturday, had the theme Paddock to Picnic, the Food Basket of Mid Canterbury.
It showcased Mid Canterbury food which had been turned from a raw product into something ‘‘pretty cool and tasty’’.
As final gate takings were being tallied, he believed numbers were up on previous years.
‘‘The Lions on the gate are telling us there were more people coming through, but we just can’t quantify it,’’ Stock said.
‘‘Of course we got the weather right,’’ Stock said.
New events featured included Clash of the Colleges, live demonstrations including cooking, horse shoeing and knife making, and a shearing competition between five Ashburton personalities.
There were also plenty of free options for those on a budget, including animals, photo ops, whacky farm characters, facepainting, lolly scramble and pet parade.
‘‘We’ve had highlighted some things that we had dropped the ball on and we are going to fix those for next year.’’
Among them were improvements around the equestrian section and layout in some areas.
For the shearing competition, hairdresser Kim Reed won against school principal Peter Livingstone, radio jock Luke Howden and jeweller Mark ‘‘Roasty’’ Douglas.
‘‘A huge thanks to the townies who put their names up and said yes to a public display of humour,’’ Stock said.
‘‘They were such good sports.’’ Feedback on the show can be made via the Ashburton A&P Association Facebook page.
Stock said the Ashburton A&P Association was building up for its 150th event in three years.
‘‘It’s really important to us that we hit that century-and-a-half and we are humming.’’
Full results from the show are available online, showday.online.
