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Manfeild prepped for ENEOS finale
17 July 2018
MANFEILD’S fast and challenging layout will add extra spice to this Saturday’s (July 21) finale of an endurance car race series.
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With points still so close that more than half the entrants stand a mathematical chance of victory, the free-to-view third and final leg of the most competitive ENEOS North Island Endurance Series season to date will likely be an extreme paced epic.
Any one of the top 16 teams in the title chase, including Palmerston North outfit MIKE Racing, is in with a mathematical shot of winning the drawcard three-hour series, an organiser contends.
“The championship is up for grabs,” says -
Manfeild superb for superbikes
16 July 2018
RETURN of superbike racing to Manfeild next March raises potential for a long-standing lap records being bettered.
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“The advances in tyre and motorbike technology since a national championship event was last held at Manfeild could raise that possibility,” suggests Glen Williams, Motorcycling New Zealand’s President and a firm fan of the Feilding track.
A resurgence of road racing and emergence of fresh rider talent over the past season also fuel this prospect, he adds.
Any challenge to the optimal motorcycle time will be keenly followed. The overall motorbike record of one minute and 5.343 seconds was set by Andrew -
Manfeild perfect for jobFEST
11 June 2018
AN exposition primarily providing students insight into employment opportunities in a regionally-crucial industry is an exciting initiative for host venue Manfeild.
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JobFEST is a first-of-a-kind event on June 20 likely to pull thousands of attendees, the majority comprising year 12 and 13 secondary students from central New Zealand.
An event that provides focus on the transport industry, with 50 companies providing displays and showcasing jobs spanning a multitude of areas of expertise, capitalises on Manfeild Stadium’s impressive display space.
“There is no place better suited in the region for jobFEST than -
Manfeild driving programme recruit call
5 June 2018
ADDITIONAL volunteer mentors to teach students to drive safely are required for a programme operating at Manfeild.
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National Driver Training Centre programme manager Michael Barbour says his call for more recruits is driven by the success of the scheme at one local school.
The rewarding outcomes from a programme at Hato Paora College near Feilding has encouraged other schools in the region to seek involvement.
“Obviously this is great news but it does also raise a challenge,” Mr Barbour said.
““We are delighted to already have some amazing mentors who have generously given their time, yet we are now at a -
Manfeild perfect for huge market
24 May 2018
MORE ‘special somethings’ will be on sale when the biggest indoor craft event in the country comes back to the largest indoor venue of its type in the lower North Island.
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The Feilding Craft Market at Manfeild Stadium has always been a mecca for treasure hunters and this year’s event, on Friday June 8 and Saturday June 9, will elevate that status all the more, organiser Heather Philip suggests.
“We have been travelling the country all year to add those special somethings to our event and have found many wonderful artisans, some of whom have never been to any shows before,” she says.
Garden art -
Manfeild perfect for duathlon
18 May 2018
OPPORTUNITY to compete in an environment similar to a roadscape but without the issues of traffic makes Manfeild a perfect location for an impending duathlon at the Feilding facility.
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A successful outcome of the cycling and running event, to stage on the circuit on the morning of June 10, might lead to Manfeild being favourably considered for higher status competition in the future.
These thoughts are expressed by Barrie Eccles, treasurer of the Manawatu Triathlon Club, which is organising the upcoming interclub race.
His own participation in last year’s six-hour cycling challenge, an annual event staging again this Sunday -
Scholarship racing on at Manfeild
7 May 2018
OPPORTUNITY to race in the United States has further lifted the standing of a star of the future motorsport search that calls Manfeild home.
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Circuit chief executive Julie Keane says the extra shine meted the annual SpeedSport Scholarship reflects the ongoing importance of a generous regionally-orchestrated competition giving its winner a season in the Formula First category.
“Manfeild takes pride that we are part of a scholarship story that further shows our circuit as a breeding ground for future champions.
“I’m delighted that, in addition to continuing to provide the significant prize of entry into the primary -
Manfeild driving programme at school
2 May 2018
IMMERSING in a road safety programme and young driver tuition operating from Manfeild is giving a small college near Feilding an amazing opportunity it intends to maximise.
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Hato Paora College is a Catholic Maori boys’ school at which almost all students are fulltime boarders.
It draws students from all over New Zealand – including the Chatham Islands – and also overseas, including at the moment Kiwi kids whose parents are working in Germany and New York, for up to five years’ education.
This raises one bump on a road Sean Bristow, the acting principal and also the director of teaching and learning, intends -
Crash rescue comp returns to Manfeild
26 April 2018
AN exercise in which fire crews are tested on the ability to extricate road accident victims from smashed vehicles returns to Manfeild next month.
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Sixteen crews, seven from the North Island and the remainder from the South, will be at the Feilding facility on May 24, 25 and 26 to take part in the United Fire Brigades’ Association of New Zealand combined regional road crash rescue challenge.
Held at the Manfeild Stadium and requiring 70 cars donated by regional wrecking yards, this event is very popular with fire brigades.
“Road fatalities and related injuries continue to rise,” UFBA Chief Executive Officer Bill -
Life-saving equipment for Manfeild
6 April 2018
Around 1800 New Zealanders every year are treated for a cardiac arrest in the community and experts suggest survival is often largely due to what assistance comes within the first few minutes.
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A vital piece of equipment that has a proven record in much improving a sufferer’s chances of survival has now been installed at Manfeild.
Julie Keane, chief executive of the popular Feilding facility, says she is delighted the venue now has an automated emergency defibrillator, provisioned as result of a Lion Foundation grant and sourced from Pro Med, the event medical services specialist provider to Manfeild.
Equipment that commonly -
Dressage role celebrated by Manfeild
21 March 2018
CONFIRMATION the New Zealand National Dressage Championships will return to Manfeild in 2019 provides opportunity for the venue to reinforce a previously stated status as the premier national location for the sport.
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The Bates National Dressage Championships has been an annual event at the Feilding venue since 2014, having previously been staged there every two in every three years.
Manfeild chief executive Julie Keane says the 2018 event, on February 15-18, was especially well-supported by riders and spectators and provided the added appeal of internationally-renowned local competitor Julie Brougham winning the championship after years -
Tyre toasting arena enlarged at Manfeild
15 March 2018
PARTICIPANTS in one of the most popular crowd thrills hosted at a big annual celebration of modern car culture at Manfeild are being given more room to play.
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The venue’s burn out pad, a polished concrete low-grip surface on which cars are made to lose traction to the point where the driving tyres smoke heavily, has been enlarged.
Organisers of the V 4 And Rotary North Island Jamboree, which returns to the Feilding venue for a ninth consecutive year on March 24-25, have funded the extension and are excited by the potential a bigger arena brings.
“With the area now around 18 metres by 18 metres we can accommodate -
Field days a bumper crop for Manfeild
8 March 2018
AS the countdown to a landmark Central Districts Field Days begins, organisers and the venue host have taken opportunity to turn back the clock, reflecting on how this rural centrepiece has grown.
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Manfeild chief executive Julie Keane says the instigators of a national classic running on March 15-17 always envisaged it becoming a big thing, yet today’s event has probably outgrown their wildest dreams in terms of its physical size, span of activity and, of course, crowd draw.
“In 1993 this was a small event with about 50 sites taking up a modest area within the circuit layout - this year’s celebration of 25 years of -
Last picture show at Manfeild?
28 February 2018
NEXT weekend’s outdoor movie double-header at Manfeild might yet be the last picture show at the venue.
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So much depends on what sort of turn-out the season finale delivers.
Drive-in movies have been running at the Feilding venue for the past two summers, in either the Manfeild Stadium carpark or on the adjacent oval, and started out as a box office success.
However, dwindling audience counts have led the venue having to consider whether it’s time to stow the big screen.
But there’s one more chance for film buffs to show their support.
Thought is that two 1980s’ American epics, coming-of-age great The -
Manfeild experience wows golf hotshots
23 February 2018
FIVE hard drivers in top-level golf have come to Manfeild for a race car experience that was anything but putt-putt.
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Brad Shilton, David Smail, Harry Bateman, Luke Toomey and Brad Kennedy, all big hitters of the New Zealand PGA Championship running today and all weekend in Palmerston North, enjoyed free time from that competition yesterday (Thursday, February 22) to take a fast ride around Circuit Chris Amon, in the passenger seat of a high-powered European exotic.
Even though some of the guests had experienced performance cars on tracks before – and one, Smail, has such an interest in circuit sport that he is restoring a -
Manfeild, region, promoter pleased with GP
23 February 2018
CONFIDENCE that the New Zealand Grand Prix will continue going from strength to strength at Manfeild with significant regional funding support is total.
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This today from Manfeild chief executive Julie Keane, who says discussion between event stakeholders and the promoter since the February 11 race on Circuit Chris Amon has clarified certainty about the Feilding venue’s host rights’ status and strengthened her optimism that this event will continue to flourish.
“In the past week we have been involved in talks between promoter Speed Works Events, the Palmerston North City Council and Manawatu District Council and have -
Manfeild set for second GP
14 February 2018
THE second phase of Manfeild’s Grand Prix double-header opens tomorrow (Thursday, February 15) with top-flight competition and a massive national turnout expected.
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The Feilding venue has been in a turmoil of activity, with crews cleaning up after the country’s biggest domestic motor-racing event, the New Zealand Grand Prix contested on February 11, synching smoothly with preparation for the Bates NZ Championships.
The country’s largest and most crucial dressage undertaking has attracted a bumper entry of 186 horses and more than 140 riders (because some have more than one mount), with a range of high-profile -
Manfeild impressed by NZGP promotion
26 January 2018
ATTENDANCE of the New Zealand Grand Prix race meeting at Manfeild on February 9-11 will definitely be boosted by a regional ticket giveaway promotion.
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“We understand quite a few Palmerston North and Manawatu ratepayers have taken advantage of the offer of a free three-day pass,” Manfeild chief executive Julie Keane says.
“The preliminary information we have received from the promoter, Speedworks Events, suggests we can anticipate seeing quite a few additional race fans coming to Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon as result of this promotion, enough to help realise our expectation of this endeavour delivering an increased -
Muscle machines for Manfeild show
16 January 2018
AN epic Aussie ‘phwoarhorse’ is sure to command special attention at an annual car show returning to Manfeild on Saturday (January 20).
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The all-Aussie car show at the Feilding facility takes special significance in its seventh year, not just because the recent end to car-making across the Tasman means it will for the first time be a celebration of past achievement.
The fundraiser for Auckland’s Starship hospital will also deliver chance for fast car fans to look over a very special edition Holden, created as a sign-off to its own car-making chapter in Australia.
In the prelude to ending assembly in October, GM -
Hartley pointing the way at Manfeild
28 December 2017
ANOTHER regional motorsport hero has been permanently honoured by the Manawatu facility where his circuit racing career began.
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Manfeild this morning hosted a celebration of Brendon Hartley, the Palmerston North-born and raised racer whose trophy-rich international motorsport ascendancy was especially stellar this year, culminating with entry into the category he dreamed of entering since age six, Formula One.
Now his amazing year ends with a home ground honour - the naming, as Brendon Hartley Drive, of the main thoroughfare into a venue he has also known since childhood.
Fittingly, the route that comes off South St, Feilding, leads -
Feilding youngster fired up for Manfeild
11 December 2017
WATCHING action at Manfeild and having a dad and older brother compete on two wheels fired the racing ambition of a Feilding teen set to show his talent on his home track this weekend.
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What also got this aspirant into the Suzuki GIXXER Cup, an exciting new start-up series designed to get young bloods back into motorcycle road and track racing, can also be measured in material necessary for starting a good blaze.
The name of the title sponsor on the fuel tank of Justin Maunder’s motorcycle tells a story of fantastic home-built entrepreneurship.
‘Justin’s Killer Kindling’ an enterprise run by the Feilding -
Julie's Column Dec 7
7 December 2017
AS the year draws to a close, our thoughts here at Manfeild are turning toward the New Zealand Grand Prix, a title every driver wants.
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Planning for the February 11-12 event is again guided by the memory of true legend Chris Amon – the 2018 race represents the 50th anniversary of the first of our Bulls’-born friend’s two NZGP title wins while a Ferrari works driver.
Chris was always a firm supporter of keeping the NZGP at Manfeild. His view was that maintaining the event at a single venue enhanced the race’s heritage and he believed Manfeild was the best choice, being so geographically well located and quite -
Manfeild tops with Special Olympics NZ
23 November 2017
WORLD class quality has earned Manfeild repeat host rights to the only 2017 Special Olympics New Zealand event to stage outside of Wellington.
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Thirty-nine riders from throughout the country will come to the Feilding venue for equestrian competition next week that is part of the organisation’s National Summer Games.
Every other event is being staged in and around the Capital, but when it came to the November 28-30 riding competition, only the best would do – that’s Manfeild Park.
The allure today is as it was when the competition last staged there in 2009. Thinking then that the massive indoor and outdoor eventing -
Manfeild demonstrates NDTC reach
21 November 2017
INVITEES to today’s significant Manawatu event addressing driver training for secondary school students were exposed to a rich diversity of activity.
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The National Driver Training Centre, based at Manfeild, has hosted a promotion for school principals, career advisors, gateway co-ordinators, Government departments, corporate partners and funders to showcase existing courses along with future opportunities the emergent venture aims to provide in 2018 and beyond.
Guided demonstration of current activities plus insight into additional involvements still under development was provided, with displays in and around Manfeild Stadium and -
Manfeild sharpens tech edge
13 November 2017
EXTRA polish has been added to Manfeild’s online and phone app technology.
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Just-enacted enhancements to the venue’s website ( www.Manfeild.co.nz) and its smartphone app active for Apple and Android platforms that, when launched in time for the 2017 New Zealand Grand Prix in February was believed to be a New Zealand first and potentially international standard-setter, have left both delivering a whole new user experience.
“We’re really excited by the revisions and we know users will be too,” says Manfeild marketing manager Sarah Hughes.
“Our social media development is a core part of our ongoing -
Classic role for Manfeild’s historic meet
9 November 2017
LEADING every race field but never seeing the finish flag is Russell Byrne’s lot at a historic race car gathering at Manfeild renowned for its rich colour and character.
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The Palmerston North local and longtime Manawatu Car Club member has a key role at this weekend’s The Sound MG Classic, driving the safety car that competing drivers follow to form up on the grid. He then ducks away before the lights go green.
It’s a fun duty for someone who has, in the past, been amongst the competing crowd, in a 1979 series 1 Mazda RX7, and a reminder of the crucial role played by volunteers filling a multitude of duties to ensure -
Manfeild well-placed for policies
3 November 2017
DRIVER training policy expected out of the new Labour-led coalition Government is wholly in tune with aims expressed by a leading locally-based national provider.
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“We are in a great position to deliver on the policies expressed by Labour and by New Zealand First in their respective election campaigns,” says Michael Barbour, project lead for the National Driver Training Centre, operating from Manfeild in Feilding.
“We hope that the new administration will now prioritise their ideas about
introducing driving classes to high school students because we share their conviction that this is a matter of great -
From Man to Manfeild
26 October 2017
A British-born competitor at this weekend’s historic motorcycle racing event at Manfeild has quite a tale to tell.
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Chris Swallow, a Yorkshireman who came to live in New Zealand seven years ago to teach physical education and a motorcycle-automotive course at a Tawa college, is the talk of his sport for setting a speed record at the Isle of Man Classic TT, a classic bike racing mecca event in August.
In nailing a lap average of a fraction over 160kmh on a BSA Gold Star, a bike that came into production in 1938 and was a staple of top-end racing for 20-odd years following, Swallow met a challenge that the machine’s New -
Manfeild minibike action broadcast
17 October 2017
THE eleventh stanza of a national annual secondary students’ miniature motorcycle racing event at Manfeild today and tomorrow can be seen as something new – as in, something new to be seen on a screen.
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For the first time a national event that has massively reinvigorated flagging student interest in manual trade courses is being webcast.
Capturing the action is a Hamilton-based specialist, CTAS, which has plenty of experience of filming motorcycling racing at Manfeild, through live broadcasting of Victoria Motorcycle Club winter series rounds this year, as well as other sports including jet sprints and rugby league.
The -
Manfeild menu’s new ingredient
11 October 2017
CREATING memorably good food is a mix of artistry and craft – that’s a view the expert caterer now taking up an opportunity at Manfeild firmly shares with the cuisine ace who has decided to leave the facility’s kitchen.
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Karen Rusling, whose parents ran a bakery and whose Feilding-based KR’s café and catering has risen to become a celebrated and award-winning regional business, has been named as the exclusive corporate caterer for Manfeild, thus replacing one of the country’s leading culinary experts, Hester Guy, who has chosen a quieter life.
Mrs Rusling is excited about starting a whole new food -
Manfeild ready for old favourites
10 October 2017
FANCY seeing yourself at the wheel of a bone fide pioneer of the roads?
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Owning cars from a bygone time isn’t necessarily a rich man’s dream – at the moment many are no more expensive to buy into than a modest family shopping basket.
The boom in buying up vintage vehicles – anything built between 1919 to 1931 – that hit dizzying heights about 10 years ago has quietened down considerably attests Trevor Hardy, a co-ordinator of an upcoming vintage car swap meet at Manfeild.
Many popular vintages models and even some veterans (the pre-1919s) can be snapped up for good prices, says the Manawatu -
Manfeild puts best paw forward
6 October 2017
TWENTY-five years ago Sue Richardson sought professional assistance when a pup she bought refused to come back when called – today she, her husband and their 10 border collies are award-winning obedience stars.
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‘X’ factors that make all the difference in the competition ring include watchfulness, willingness to please and a happy attitude – not just from the four-legged entrants but also their handlers.
“Dogs are just like us, they have good days and their bad days,” says Ms Richardson, a local organiser of the Blackhawk National Dog Obedience Assembly bringing 230 people and 800 canines to the -
Manfeild well-known to cyclists
29 September 2017
AS novel as the idea of cycling on motor-racing circuits sounds, competitors in a national schools’ event at Manfeild on Monday, October 2, will be forgiven for finding the venue highly familiar.
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Kevin Searle, a Levin identity of the sport and also chairman of Cycling New Zealand Schools, reminds the Feilding circuit’s link with the New Zealand School Road Cycling Championships is exceptionally strong.
“Manfeild has hosted the Points Race at the School Road National Championships since the race was introduced back in 1979.”
Taking the event to the circuit’s main grand prix track, renamed last year as -
Manfeild driver course in synch
23 August 2017
GROWING political interest in introducing driving classes to high school students has been welcomed by an emergent local provider.
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The National Driver Training Centre, operating from Manfeild, has already begun training the region’s students, with a high pass rate.
Michael Barbour, the NDTC project leader, says the recent national focus on preparing youngsters for the road, is heartening.
Over the past few weeks the Labour Party and New Zealand First have each pledged to introduce training programmes and Local Government New Zealand has also spoken out on the subject.
“The importance of a driver licence to perform -
Manfeild driver course gets thumbs up
21 August 2017
THE mother of one of the first graduates of a Manfeild-centred programme readying young drivers for the road has spoken glowingly of the course – as has her daughter.
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The ambition of the facility-backed National Driver Training Centre is to see students achieve a restricted licence, associated NCEA credits and even a defensive driving certificate.
The impetus is that school leavers stand a much better chance of gaining a place in the workforce if they hold a driving licence.
Ali Skelton’s daughter Nelly was among Feilding High School students who recently achieved restricted licences from a course at the Feilding -
Julie’s Column 3 Aug
7 August 2017
EVENTO’S standing as an artistic performance occasion has surely been cemented by this year’s show, at our magnificent Manfeild Stadium last Saturday night (July 27).
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Feilding High School’s wearable art competition holds comfortable status an iconic event, but the 21st coming of age celebration was truly special and I’m sure every one of the 1500 attendees would have been hugely impressed by the quality of the show.
Evento really is something to behold. The music, dance, performance and wearable art combine into an extravaganza that overwhelms the audience with its richness.
Even so, Saturday was extra -
Manfeild a hot spot for fire competition
7 August 2017
MANFEILD is about to feel the heat of a major fire call-out with likelihood of a dozen engines and 90 fire fighters in attendance – but there’s no call for alarm.
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The August 11-12 occasion is purely a drill, being an annual United Fire Brigades’ Association competition that tests driving skills.
The fiercely-contested event will this year draw entrants from Kaitaia at the top of the North Island to the Southland township of Wyndham, representing 53 brigades, the majority being volunteer personnel.
Opportunity to be named the country’s best fire engine driver certainly gets them all fired up, UFBA Events -
Manfeild fulfils dying man’s wish
7 August 2017
A DYING petrolhead’s tyre-smoking drift dream has been fulfilled at Manfeild.
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Jarred Townsend, who is diagnosed with leukaemia and has been told he has weeks to live, is ticking off his bucket list – and one burning desire was to test the mettle of his just-completed high horsepower Nissan Skyline.
That wish was granted on Saturday, August 5, with a full day of drifting at a venue which hosts some of the biggest national events for the now FIA-recognised skid-up sport.
Manfeild and the Manawatu Car Club, which was hosting a motorsport event on the main circuit for the weekend, worked together to realise the -
Extra grunt to Manfeild hot rod show
31 July 2017
AN annual Manfeild event that captures the ethos of cool car culture has extra horsepower this year.
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Organisers of Saturday’s swap meet and hot rod display run by the Palmerston North Hot Rod Club say there has been an upsurge in trade sites, with more than 50 for the 8am start occasion.
The resurgence of interest shows that an event of this size and scale is simply irresistible to the numerous businesses that specialise in selling petrolhead fare, organisers believe.
“Our trade site numbers were down a little over the past couple of years, but not this year – we’re looking good for a great day,” an -
Manfeild Evento vibe captures students
24 July 2017
NATURE being the core theme of Evento seems entirely appropriate for one participant school – Waiopehu College’s involvement appears to be ever-growing.
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Fourteen students from the Levin school are taking part in the 2017 secondary schools’ wearable arts show, at Manfeild Stadium this Saturday night (July 29), an enthusiasm that delights their head of visual arts.
Andrew Yates says he cannot speak highly enough of Feilding High School’s annual demonstration of artistry, enthusiasm and ingenuity in apparel.
In the eight years’ of his own involvement, first at Taihape Area School before coming to the -
Julie's Column 20 July
20 July 2017
MANFEILD’S strong interest in positive youth development is bringing tangible result at this very moment.
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In addition to preparing for our annual instalment of Evento, just a fortnight away and now surely the country’s pre-eminent showcase of school-level wearable arts, our Feilding venue has during this mid-term break been further developing our regional push to get every teenager a driving licence before they leave secondary school.
It is six months since we began a pilot for the Steering Aotearoa driver training initiative that sets out to enable secondary students to achieve at least a restricted licence, associated -
Manfeild farm-scape for contest
6 July 2017
MANFEILD’S massive outdoor arena is converting into a working farm – complete with paddocks, sheep, tractors and grain siloes – in preparation for an event tomorrow that will test the nation’s brightest farming talent.
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Hands’ on activity central to determining the pick of the crop of the nation’s top young farmers is being staged at a venue just minutes from the Feilding central business district.
“This is our first direct involvement with the FMG Young Farmer of the Year grand final and we couldn’t be more excited,” Manfeild chief executive Julie Keane said today.
“Young -
Manfeild Evento buzz grows
3 July 2017
“Four weeks to go – and it feels like four minutes. The weeks just fly, there are not enough hours in the day.”
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So says Amanda Street, an architect of Feilding High School’s Wearable Art Show, Evento, much more now than an iconic annual must-see in its home town and all the more important with the 2017 event, on July 29 at Manfeild Stadium, being the 21st.
The ramp up to a show that includes music, dance and performance as well as wearable art, all created by secondary school students, in an extravaganza of colour and sound playing out to an audience of thousands is already under way.
Ticket sales are off to
