Armidale and New England Show

Ploughing matches and dinners led to the formation of the Pastoral and Agricultural Society of New England at a public meeting in Armidale on March 13, 1865. Its first venture combined a ploughing competition with a fair at the School of Arts, returning a small profit. The society merged into the Armidale and New England P.A. & H. Association in 1875. The first show was held in 1876, and a permanent site was secured in 1877, with a grandstand opened in 1882. Shows lapsed during the 1880s depression but resumed in 1896, marking renewed growth.