3 Mar 2010

Crowds flock to Masterton for Golden Shears

6:14 am on 3 March 2010

Masterton is bursting at the seams in anticipation of New Zealand's premier shearing event, the International Golden Shears, which starts on Wednesday.

It is the 50th anniversary of the competition, which has been hosted in the Wairarapa town since its inception.

The event is attended by New Zealand's top shearers and wool handlers, as well as a sizeable overseas contingent.

The president of the Golden Shears Society, Mavis Mullins, says they have more than 500 competitors and the international participation is even stronger this year.

"We've got the usuals from the UK, there are competitors here from Japan, obviously the Australians (and) some through the Scandinavian countries. So it's a real league of nations," Mrs Mullins says.

Golden Shears will run for an extra day, to fit in some special 50th anniversary features, including a veterans' shearing event on Thursday.

Mrs Mullins says it will be a big day. "We've got two grades, the 55-plus and the 65-plus, and with those two grades combined I think we are up to something like 80 competitors," she says.

Other events will include a celebrity shears, a teddy bears shear-off and black singlet Friday.

The serious competition starts with novice and wool handling heats on Wednesday afternoon. The finals, which are already sold out, will be held on Saturday night.