Showtime 8 - All the Fun of the Fair

Image Courtesy CCC&NZCup&Show Week

Love the swirls of colour and movement in this image from last year's Royal New Zealand Show. It says so much about the pace, the colour, the extravagance, the fun of New Zealand Cup and Show Week, which is now New Zealand's largest festival of racing, fashion, agriculture and entertainment, all crammed into one hectic week from November 7 -14. It's a week that's filled with parties and socialising and a city filled with hats and high heels. I loved watching all that last year when I was in Melbourne in time for the Melbourne Cup. As trams, cabs and trains pulled to a halt all over the city, passengers spilled out in their finery - giggling groups of young women excited yet still a little self-conscious about wearing hats; men in pinstriped suits; the fashionistas strutting their stuff. It's the same in Christchurch - although forget trams and trains spilling out hat-wearing race-goers. That ain't a happening thing here; but packed bars and restaurants are. And for the kids the Royal New Zealand Show turns on another whole world of entertainment - the animals, the rides, the fairground atmosphere. It's all happening - soon! www.nzcupandshow.co.nz www.theshow.co.nz

Melbourne Cup Mania

Woodend Poster. Nov. 2008. Ajr

Being in Melbourne at this time of year - amid Melbourne Cup Fever - is like being in New Zealand in the middle of a winter rugby season - everyone is obsessed; totally focussed.... in this case, on horse racing. Every newspaper, every television channel is dedicated to likely winners and losers - in both the race itself and in the fashion stakes. It was freezing here yesterday, so I missed the Melbourne Cup parade in central city, which is a pity because the thoroughbreds looked spectacular strutting the streets in their red silk jackets; and I won't be attend Cup Day today either. But tomorrow is another day - Kyneton Cup day in fact. Yes, race fever goes beyond the big event and seeps out into the rural surrounds. Locals tell me the Kyneton Cup is just as eagerly awaited (locally) as the Melbourne Cup and if my race day experience at the Noorama Picnic Races in Outback Queensland in April are anything to go by, I'd say Kyneton is in for some wild times tomorrow. www.countryracing.com.au