FEATURE
THE HOME OF
Hundreds of dogs and their owners will descend upon
Marlborough from around New Zealand in October.
T
hey’re making their way to the
region for the Black Hawk 2019
National Dog Show; the first national
dog show to be held outside one of
New Zealand’s main centres. “They were sold within the first 20 minutes
of going online. We increased to 100 and
they were sold by the end of the day and
then we increased to 150 sites and they
have also sold out,” Keith says.
Show chairman Keith Brown says
the event will be held across four
Marlborough locations, adopting a
brand-new format for the competition,
which is in its 65th year. “Entries don’t close until the 20th of
August, but we had record entries for
the first two days.”
“This is the first time it’s ever gone to a
regional city in New Zealand … it’s coming
to Marlborough because some of the
facilities [in larger centres] aren’t big
enough to hold in one area,” he says.
Here, the Marlborough Lines Stadium
2000, Marlborough Convention Centre,
Rewi Murray Polo Ground and at our own
grounds in Omaka will host aspects of the
national show.
Registrations for the event went on sale
in July, prompting record sales.
“We had 80 grooming sites available per
day, and it goes over the four days.
8
August 2019
Keith and his organising committee
have been working closely with the
Marlborough District Council to organise
and market the event.
He believes Marlborough’s unique
location makes it a great place for people
to get to from both the North and the
South Islands.
“Marlborough is an easy location to get
to for North Island exhibitors, rather than
having to get off the ferry and drive to
Christchurch they can get off the ferry
and drive 20 minutes.”
Motels, hotels and holiday homes are
filling up quickly for the event, with judges
and a range of supporting vendors also