Next year Show Day will November 15.

Show Day is also Canterbury’s Anniversary Day and two years ago the Christchurch City Council, with the support of other local bodies in Canterbury, adopted the new definition for various reasons.

One was it would not clash with the Melbourne Cup racing carnival. This meant that top New Zealand horses could race in the Melbourne Cup and then in the New Zealand Cup at Riccarton in Show Week.

Before 1999, the two races had been held too close together to ensure the same horses competed in both events.

Other reasons included economic development matters, meaning that Christchurch and Canterbury could aggressively market to attract national and international visitors to the city and the region.

For a week each November, the Canterbury Agricultural and Pastoral Show is held (this year it is a royal show), along with racing events and many community and cultural events which comprise the Showtime Festival.