The East Coast Farming Expo in Wairoa is shaping as possibly the big agricultural event in Hawke's Bay and the East Coast over the summer after three A and P Show cancellations and possibly more to come.
First held in 2016, when badly affected by heavy rain, the 2022 Expo is scheduled for February 23-24, again at the Wairoa showgrounds, and could still go ahead in Covid-19 level 2 conditions without general public admission if those conditions are in place at the time, says event manager Sue Wilson.
The region has already lost the Poverty Bay, Hawke's Bay and Central Hawke's Bay A and P shows, which had been scheduled for October and November.
The Wairoa A and P Show, scheduled for January 15, is, along with all other events throughout the country in the balance, with a committee meeting this week for an update. However, a decision is not expected before December 1.
The cancellations, including all A and P shows in the North Island pre-Christmas, and several in the South Island including the Golden Bay show which was to have been held in Takaka on the same day as the Wairoa show, have been devastating for farming communities which have had multi-generational days-out at the shows dating back well over a century.