Wrap up for Fieldays 2014

Wrap up for Fieldays 2014

The 46th NZ National Agricultural Fieldays has welcomed thousands through its gates, the poor weather from earlier in the week doing nothing to deter the crowds. Numbers from the four days came in at nearly 120,000 visitors through the gates, with today seeing a total of 32,181 for the event’s final day. The beaming sun proved to be a beautiful backdrop for the 900 exhibitors showcasing their products to eager visitors.

Overall event staff, volunteers and exhibitors have been pleased with the organisational factors of Fieldays 2014 and say feedback has been largely positive.

CEO Jon Calder said, “Today’s been a fitting end for Fieldays 2014 with a final day finish on a high.

“I particularly wish to commend the stand out effort from all our staff and volunteers, their positive attitude right through from the early hours of Wednesday morning when fierce winds and rain could have threatened our event, and their constant ability and readiness to roll up their sleeves and just make things happen.

“Despite two rough days we have seen just short of 120,000 visitors to this year’s event. I’d like to thank our exhibitors, particularly those who stepped up and made amazing award-winning sites, for helping us put on another great event for 2014. The relevance of this year’s Premier Feature theme has been very evident throughout the event and appears to have fit really well with the sector and our international visitors; indicating Fieldays plays an integral part in New Zealand’s agribusiness. Many congratulations once again to our Innovation Award winners. The growing number of innovation entries was well up on last year, signifying Fieldays core purpose; the purpose of advancing primary industry.”

Todays affairs spread closure on a number of important events, including fencing championships, the excavator competition, the Rural Bachelor of the Year and tractor pull competitions.

The Fieldays mobile app was another success this year with having over 31,000 page views.

“Thanks for the app with map, schedule, etc. No excuse to miss anything this year!” said one happy app user.

Geoff Peek won the title of Fieldays 2014 Bachelor of the Year and was ecstatic to take away the title and the Golden Gumboot Trophy.

The Tractor Pull Fieldays Weight Adjusted Competition, Weight Transfer Competition, Modified Tractors, Tractors of Interest and Exhibitor Challenge also had their final runs today.

Big Brand Leisure Ltd drew the winner of their $10,000 Luxury Spa Package today. Andy Carruthers Director of Big Brand Leisure drew the lucky winner out, Eileen Cole from Drury.

Tractor Pull winners
Weight Adjusted Category winners:

0-6 Tonne - Kalbir Singh
6-8 Tonne - Darrell Atkins
8-10 Tonne - Clinton Bell
10-12 Tonne - Zach Walling
12-15 Tonne - Barry Rhodes

The overall Weight Transfer winner was Zach Walling
Weight Adjusted Competition winners:

1st - Paul Mellow
2nd - Iain Lillington
3rd - Darrell Atkins

Ends

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