The Stratford A&P Show has been running for more than 100 years and this year's festivities attracted a massive crowd.

The two-day affair, held at the Flint Rd show grounds, included competitions, rides, stalls, demonstrations, music and displays and photographer Grant Matthew went a long.

One of the more hotly contested competitions was the open shearing title.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF Harris Bowman, 2, takes a ride on a model tractor.

Te Kuiti shearer Mark Grainger successfully defended the title, ahead of former world champion Gavin Mutch on Saturday.

Mutch won the race to shear 15 sheep in the three-man final in a time of 13 minutes 16 seconds, ahead of Grainger and Jack Fagan, of Te Kuiti.

But the better board and pen points enabled Grainger to overcome the time points deficit for a win by 1.267pts ahead of the Whangamomona-based Mutch - the 2015 Golden Shears Open champion.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF Amelia Purdie, 5, enjoys a ride on the carousel with father Kelvin.

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GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF World champion wood choppers and brothers Jack Jordon, left, and Shane Jordan compete in the wood chopping event.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF Judges inspect the competition in the Premier Dairy Yearling Heifers section.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF A sow feeds her young.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF A bunch of old farm tractors and machinery was on show.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF The Taranaki Vintage Machinery Club had a display at the show.