Discussions continue to try to resurrect this year’s Canterbury A&P Show.
The board of Canterbury A&P are in discussions with Event Hire to determine if there is a way in which a scaled-back show can be run in 2024, the parties said in a joint statement.
The proviso is that the event is delivered to members and the public within acceptable financial and other risk parameters.
The show was thrown a lifeline when Phil Anderson, co-owner of Christchurch business Event Hire, proposed to work alongside the association to help run an event he said would resemble a traditional show.
This was after financial issues threw the annual event into doubt, and the association board announced it was only going to hold livestock competitions this year.
Complicating the issue is a decision by the Canterbury A&P Association board to resign, saying they cannot work with the association’s general committee.
Those resigning include board chair Stewart Mitchell, who last month said the move follows a challenge from the association’s 27-member general committee to the board’s decision to cancel the 2024 show.
“As a board we decided it was much better for time to be spent reviewing changes to the business, accumulating reserves and taking time to plan for a new and curated show in 2025.”
Anderson said last month that Event Hire has been running events alongside its equipment hire business for several years, including Christchurch’s annual Christmas Parade.
Anderson said together with the association, the parties would have the knowledge and expertise to provide an event resembling a traditional A&P Show.
Late last month the Christchurch City Council paid the board $5 million to surrender its 100-year lease on 5 hectares of council land, which it used to repay a loan to the council.
