The Marlborough A&P Show returns to A&P Park in Blenheim on Saturday 7 November 2026 (with equestrian and dog-trial competitions the day before), a long-standing agricultural and pastoral show run by the Marlborough A&P Association.
The Marlborough A&P Show 2026 is held at Marlborough A&P Park on the corner of Maxwell and Alabama Roads in Blenheim. The main public show day is Saturday 7 November 2026, running 9:00am to 4:00pm, with equestrian classes and the dog trials held the previous day, Friday 6 November. It is an agricultural and pastoral show drawing Marlborough's rural and urban communities together for competitions, displays and entertainment.
The day combines livestock and farming competition with family entertainment: show jumping, wood chopping, shearing, sheep dog trials, dressage, vintage farm machinery, and livestock judging across pets, pigs, poultry and sheep, alongside the Meat & Wool Cup and the Grand Parade. Trade sites, food and drink stalls, live music, a licensed bar and an amusement area round out the programme.
The show is organised by the Marlborough A&P Association through its show committee. The 2026 show secretary is Alice Parkinson and the committee president is Glenn Dick, with entry schedules published on the association's website, marlboroughshow.co.nz. A&P (agricultural and pastoral) associations are among New Zealand's oldest community institutions, and the Marlborough show has its roots in the region's pastoral farming heritage, held over a Friday and Saturday at the start of November each year.
The show is pitched at all ages and at both rural and urban Marlborough. Competitors and exhibitors span serious livestock and equestrian entrants through to young people, who are catered for with pet competitions, junior handler classes in dairy and beef, and Young Handler classes (10 and under, and 11 to 18). For the general public it functions as a family day out, with the agricultural competition at its core.
Marlborough A&P Park sits on the corner of Maxwell and Alabama Roads in Blenheim, close to the town centre, with public entries off both Maxwell Road and Alabama Road. Blenheim is the main town of the Marlborough region and the hub of its wine-tourism economy, so the town carries a substantial base of hotels, motels, lodges and vineyard accommodation that serves visitors year-round. The town is reached by Marlborough Airport at Woodbourne, a short drive west of the centre with domestic flights, and lies about half an hour south of the Picton inter-island ferry terminal; central Blenheim is compact and the showgrounds are within easy reach of town accommodation. This transport and accommodation picture is offered here as neutral context for the showgrounds, not as a recommendation.
As a long-running fixture on the Marlborough calendar, the A&P Show is a marker of the region's agricultural and pastoral sector and its community infrastructure rather than a conference-sector event in itself. For business-events planners it is useful mainly as context: it demonstrates A&P Park's capacity to host a large multi-activity outdoor programme, and it underlines Blenheim's standing as a well-serviced regional centre with airport access, ferry links and a deep wine-tourism accommodation base that supports visitor influxes.
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The Hamilton and wider Waikato restaurants holding a Google rating of 4.5 or higher — a live shortlist for conference dinners, client lunches and group bookings.
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Rotorua's higher-rated restaurants — 4.6 and above on Google — for conference dinners, group lunches and hosting in the central North Island's events hub.
The equipment and hire companies serving Ashburton and Mid Canterbury — marquees, furniture, staging and general event hardware for conferences, A&P events and functions.