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APRIL 2, 2026
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Fieldays booming
By Mary Anne Gill
Fieldays is heading into June riding a wave of confidence, infrastructure investment and international attention, with its chief executive declaring: “Fieldays is having an absolute boom time.” The good news keeps stacking up for the New Zealand National Fieldays Society, following confirmation of a $1.35 million loan from the Government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund to help fund a $3.2 million upgrade of Mystery Creek’s ageing water reticulation network, a project already well advanced and nearly finished. The 50‑year‑old water system had reached the end of its useful life and posed a critical risk to the Southern Hemisphere’s largest agricultural event. The upgrade includes new reticulated pipework across the site and the installation of a 600,000‑litre water tank, boosting pressure, storage and resilience. The loan, matched dollar‑for‑dollar by the Fieldays Society, was announced this week by Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and associate minister Mark Patterson, who described Mystery Creek as a nationally significant asset. Mystery Creek hosts Fieldays each June, attracting more than 110,000 visitors and generating $528 million in total expenditure, including $213 million in the Waikato. It can also serve as a critical civil defence logistics hub in a large‑scale emergency. Fieldays chief executive Richard
The Fieldays team preparing for 2026 event, from left: Karina Missen, Steve Chappell, Richard Lindroos, Brett Beagley and Emma Fairweather.
Lindroos said water was the first and most urgent piece of a longer‑term infrastructure strategy. “This is our moment for the reset,” he said. The water project is the first of four major infrastructure priorities - water, energy resilience, buildings and site footprint - designed to future‑proof the 114‑hectare privately owned venue for the next 50 years. With the digging largely done and sealing now underway, the water work will be completed in time for Fieldays 2026. But infrastructure is only part of the story. Fieldays is also unveiling a new Village Green function centre,
featuring a giant marquee that will put major political, business and diplomatic events back in the heart of the site and in full public view. The temporary structure replaces the former hub building and will seat around 240 people for sit-down meals, or host up to 400 standing. It will become Fieldays headquarters during event week. Among the headline events will be a European Union‑hosted lunch, bringing together ambassadors from all 27 EU member countries, alongside New Zealand political leaders and agribusiness figures. Lindroos said the move was about visibility and telling Fieldays’ story better. “For a long time, our major
events were hidden away. We wanted to bring those moments back into the centre of Fieldays.” International interest in Fieldays is also surging, with delegations from Europe, India, China and beyond confirming attendance. “Deals get done at Fieldays,” Lindroos said, pointing to the growing role the event plays in international trade, business‑to‑business and government‑to‑government engagement. On the commercial front, exhibitor demand is at record levels. Of the roughly 1200 sites, only 18 remain vacant, meaning Fieldays is 97.8 per cent sold, with a full sell‑out expected shortly.
Photo: Mary Anne Gill
“It’s a real indication of how buoyant the ag sector is,” said Lindroos. The site also hosts more than 100 other events each year, from major expos to community gatherings, reinforcing its role as a year‑round economic engine for the region. For Lindroos, the combination of infrastructure investment, near‑sellout site sales and growing international interest points to a renewed confidence in both Fieldays and the wider sector. “This is about more than one event. It’s about having a venue that can host the conversations, the trade and the relationships that matter. Deals get done at Fieldays.” • See more cambridgenews.nz
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