Waverley A&P Show 2026

A century-old country show on the South Taranaki coast

The Waverley A&P Show is the annual agricultural and pastoral show of the small South Taranaki town of Waverley, held on a single day at Dallison Park on Chester Street. The 2026 edition falls on Tuesday 17 November 2026, running from 8am to 5pm, and is billed by the organisers as the show's 104th annual outing — placing its origins in the early 1920s.

The show is confirmed as a live, scheduled event. It appears in the Royal Agricultural Society of New Zealand calendar of A&P shows and in PGG Wrightson's national show listing, both of which list the 17 November 2026 date and the Dallison Park venue. The association also runs its own current website with the 2026 date and programme front and centre.

Who runs it

The show is organised by the Waverley A&P Association, a volunteer-run body that has staged the event for more than a century. Its published show secretary and principal contact is Janene Pope, and schedule documents list a committee of section secretaries and officials covering the equestrian, home industries and dog trial programmes. The association maintains its event presence through a Sporty.co.nz-hosted site, where entry schedules, trade-site applications and section information are published each year.

What's on and who it's for

Waverley is a classic "town meets country" one-day show pitched at farming families and the wider district. According to the association's own programme, the day combines:

• Equestrian competition — show hunter, show jumping and working hunter classes across multiple rings, run under ESNZ, historically one of the show's largest draws
• Home industries — indoor displays of arts, craft, cookery and floral work, including school displays (the section the RAS lists as the show's Royal event)
• Dog trials, including a Waverley yarding event
• Gift and export lamb classes
• a Kids' Ag Club with its own schedule and entries
• Trade exhibits, stalls, food and drink and children's activities

It is a community and primary-industry event rather than a trade-only exhibition: the audience is local and regional farming families, exhibitors, equestrian competitors and day visitors.

Venue, access and getting there

Dallison Park is Waverley's recreation reserve, with the show laid out across the main oval, show paddock and trade paddock. Waverley sits on State Highway 3 in the South Taranaki District of the lower North Island, roughly midway between Whanganui to the south-east and Hāwera to the north-west, making road access along SH3 the primary way in for exhibitors and visitors.

As a small-town show, on-site infrastructure is modest and most visitors travel in for the day. Accommodation within Waverley itself is limited, with a fuller range of motels and hotels in Whanganui and Hāwera within a short drive; the nearest regional airports are at Whanganui and New Plymouth. Visitors should confirm current road, parking and accommodation details with the organisers or local operators closer to the date.

Why it matters for NZ regional events

The Waverley A&P Show is a working example of the backbone of New Zealand's regional event calendar: a volunteer-run, century-old A&P show that anchors a small rural community for a day each November. For the MICE and regional-events sector it illustrates how New Zealand's A&P network — coordinated nationally through the Royal Agricultural Society — sustains recurring, date-certain gatherings in towns far from the main centres, drawing competitors, trade exhibitors and visitors into districts like South Taranaki that would otherwise see little scheduled event traffic.