Tina Elers throws a fleece in the World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships team woolhandling final this year. Photo: Nicole SharpSouthland's largest spectacle of sheep shearing, the 2017 World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships, has been named a finalist in the New Zealand Event Awards. The shearing event, which has been floated as the best World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships in its 40-year history, provided a boost to Southland's economy of more than $6.5 million. The event being named a finalist in the New Zealand Event Awards had been the cream on the cake, New Zealand Shearing Foundation chairman Tom Wilson said. -The World Shearing and Woolhandling Championships is also up for the People's Choice Award which people can vote for online at www.eventfinda.co.nz/news/2017/09/vote-for-nzs-favourite-event

Source: Otago Daily Times September 20, 2017 05:15 UTC