The 2026 Canterbury A&P Show (Ravensdown-branded), New Zealand's largest agricultural and pastoral show, is confirmed for Wednesday 11 to Friday 13 November 2026 at Canterbury Agricultural Park, Christchurch, run by the Canterbury A&P Association and drawing 70,000+ visitors.
The Canterbury A&P Show is New Zealand's largest agricultural and pastoral show, running Wednesday 11 to Friday 13 November 2026 at Canterbury Agricultural Park in Christchurch. For 2026 it carries naming-rights branding as the Ravensdown Canterbury A&P Show, and the organiser has shifted it back to a Wednesday-to-Friday format from the recent Thursday-to-Saturday pattern, resolving a scheduling clash with the New Zealand Cup at Riccarton on the Saturday (ODT).
The show is produced by the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Association (CAPA), established in 1863 and one of New Zealand's oldest and largest A&P bodies (organiser history page). The Association has run the show at Canterbury Agricultural Park on Curletts Road since 1997, and rebranded the event as the New Zealand Agricultural Show in 2018 before the 2026 return to the Canterbury A&P Show name.
The event draws more than 70,000 visitors across its three days (organiser). Its competitive core spans over 5,000 classes covering livestock, equestrian, dog trials, woodchopping and shearing, alongside live music, roving performers and arena events. A large trade-exhibition component sits at the heart of the show, with trade sites reported roughly 90% sold ahead of the 2026 edition (organiser). The audience is a broad mix of the rural sector, trade exhibitors and the general Christchurch and Canterbury public.
Canterbury Agricultural Park sits on Curletts Road in southwest Christchurch. It is a short drive from Christchurch International Airport, the South Island's main air gateway, which keeps inbound exhibitors and trade visitors well connected. Christchurch's accommodation base across the central city and airport precinct supports multi-day attendance, and the park is served by arterial roads and city bus routes from the CBD, with on-site parking for the large daily crowds the show generates.
As the country's biggest A&P show and a 160-plus-year institution, the event is a significant recurring exhibition and trade fixture on the Canterbury calendar, anchoring Christchurch Show Day (a regional public holiday) and drawing large trade and public audiences that underpin the South Island's agribusiness and events economy.
The TERMIS Asia Pacific Chapter Conference 2026, the regional congress of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, runs 27-30 October 2026 at Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre.
SOLIDWORKS Innovation Day 2027 is a free half-day Central Innovation product briefing (co-presented with Dassault Systèmes) confirmed for the Commodore Airport Hotel, Christchurch, on 10 November 2026; the "2027" is the software version, and the directory's date and venue are both correct.
A two-day familial cancer genetics congress (6-7 Nov 2026) run by the NZ Familial Breast & Ovarian Cancer Trust at the Cancer Society in Papanui, Christchurch, with a full clinical programme, named speakers and a parallel public Community Day.
The Christchurch leg of Safeguard's LegalSAFE 2026 — New Zealand's health and safety law conference — runs at the Christchurch Town Hall on 30 October 2026, closing a three-city tour that also stops in Wellington and Auckland.
The International Play Association's triennial World Conference comes to Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre from 2-5 November 2026 - the first time the global children's-right-to-play congress has been held in the Southern Hemisphere, with around 1,000 delegates expected.
The Human Genetics Society of Australasia brings its 49th Annual Scientific Meeting to Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre on 1-4 August 2026, drawing geneticists, genetic counsellors and laboratory scientists from across the Asia-Pacific under the theme 'Ngā Whakapapa Puāwai'.