Fine weather is forecast for the Hawke's Bay Anniversary holiday show day in Hastings on Friday, but there may be some trying times getting the elements right for the week.
That's the warning from national weather agency MetService as Hawke's Bay launches into the week of one of Hawke's Bay's biggest annual events, the three-day Royal New Zealand Show, which is expected to attract foot traffic of over 30,000 from Wednesday to Friday.
It marks 156 years since the formation of the Hawke's Bay A and P Society in 1863 and a meeting which decided to hold the first "Annual Exhibition" in the Danvers brothers' paddock at Havelock North.
Following the last of the society's annual pre-show working bees on Saturday the show, held every years since 1872 apart from 1942 (during World War 2), started to take on its fairground appearance with Sunday's arrival from Gisborne's Poverty Bay A and P Show of fleets of trucks, amusements and sideshows, and food caravans.
It was a mainly grey but fine day, with crews swinging into action on a sunny Monday to prepare machinery and sites for Wednesday's opening day, for which Metservice is forecasting some showers and a maximum temperature no higher than 14C.
