Carnival not over for Hawke’s Bay
Amusement rides during A&P Show
Afour-day fair-ground carnival open to the public has been confirmed for the Hawke’s BayA&PShowin Hastings nextmonthfollowing the relaxation of the Covid-19 alert levels.
While competitor classes of the historical showopen on October 21, the ThursdaySunday carnival will start the next day, extending past the usual public holiday into Labour weekend.
Featuring theMahons Amusementsrides, the carnival will be held in what A&PSociety general manager Sally Jackson calls the “front paddock”— theKaramuRdKenilworthRdcorner block of the expansive Hawke’s Bay Showgrounds.
There will be free entry to the fairground but usual ride costs will still apply, enabling MahonsAmusementsto take part in what has been one of the company’s biggest annual events since it first appeared at the Hawke’s Bayshowin 1946.
Jackson said the association andMahonswere confident that, if higher pandemic alert levels were reintroduced, the carnival could still be held in level 2—
The carnival will be separate from the competitor areas of the shows.
by meeting conditions such as distancing on the rides similar to those which might apply on aircraft and other public transport.
The carnival will be separate from the competitor areas of the shows, which are still not expected to be open to the public, such as horse events, including the World CupShowjumping qualifying round.
The Great Raihania Shears shearing and woolhandling competitions, which had been cancelled, arenowback on, with organiser and shearing contractor Colin Watson Paul saying on Friday that support for staging the championships in the level 1 environment led to the situation being reconsidered.
At least six pre-Christmas A&Pshows throughout the country have been cancelled, including the Wairarapashow in Carterton and the Manawatushowin Feilding, although the first of the season in the North Island, the Poverty BayA&PShowaweek earlier in Gisborne, will still be held.
Jackson said the society, which marked its 150th anniversary in 2013, was determined to support the competitors.
Manyof the events were pathways to greater goals, such as world cups and the Olympic Games.
Twoweeks ago, just ahead of the relaxation of the alert levels, the society announced it would go ahead with a competitor-only show, with separation of the sports across the showgrounds to help meet whatever requirements might be in place relating to larger gatherings.
She says it maintains the spirit and tradition which enabled Hawke’s Bay to stage shows in the 1940s, despite the absence of thousands abroad during WorldWarII.