Delighted with ‘fifth level’ turnout at Wairoa Show

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

WAIROA has bounced back from the loss of its two biggest annual events over the last two years with one of the biggest crowds for the A&P show held over the weekend.

Parking space rarely if ever used was needed to accommodate numbers on Saturday.

This was despite the heavy, grey skies and threat of rain that prevailed for most of the day, and the soft underfoot conditions after one of the wettest years on record throughout Hawke's Bay.

It went to the “fifth level”, said first-time event manager Alice Wilson while her mother and former event manager Sue Wilson said she couldn't recall such a turnout in her 30-year association with the Show.

The Show was cancelled last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the historic Wairoa races haven't been held since 2020, locked out of the industry by a nationwide rationalisation of racing venue use throughout New Zealand.

The 2022 Show was held on Friday and Saturday, with horse riders remaining in town for the Wairoa horse jumping show on Sunday.

Alice Wilson said the Show was marked by record entries in its rodeo and good quality shearing fields for events held on Friday night and during the next day.

Rodeo entries were bolstered by the proximity of two other rodeos — the Gisborne Rodeo a week earlier and the Upper Mohaka Rodeo near Te Haroto on Sunday.

The Wairoa Show's rural ironman competitions on Saturday attracted 14 teams of three — eight teams in the children's event and six in the adult competition.

It was the third of the four annual Hawke's Bay A&P shows over the 2022-2023 season. The last is at Dannevirke at the end of next week.