The New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition                                                                                   

17 November marked the centenary of the opening of the New Zealand & South Seas Exhibition.  The event ran from 17 November 1925 to 1 May 1926 and drew 3.2 million visitors, at a time when the population of New Zealand was estimated at 1.25 to 1.4 million people.  On the first day the turnstile system "completely broke down" due to the "unprecedented crowd."  The Exhibition covered 65 acres on Logan Park (formerly Logan Lake) including the central dome and grand court, British Empire halls and overseas general exhibits, machinery hall, hall of education, etc., NZ government exhibits hall, NZ industries hall, transportation hall, art gallery including a women's section, sports ground, fernery, and the amusement zone.

Materials from Dunedin City Council Archives (+).
Attendance figures.
Photo album prepared by the contractors who built the Exhibition at Logan Park.
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The Hocken Collections, part of the University of Otago Library, has substantial ephemera and photos from the Exhibition.
A page of an album prepared for J. Sutherland Ross, president of the Exhibition.
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Toitū Otago Settlers Museum.
The Museum has a small exhibit on the 1925-26 Exhibition.
Spade used for the groundbreaking on 23 June 1924.
Examples of trinkets from the Exhibition.
Excellent presentations run on two small video monitors provide many interesting details on the Exhibition.  Several episodes of "Talking Pictures" on the Museum's YouTube channel are likewise informative.
Exhibit on the Exhibitions of 1865 and 1889-90.
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As part of events commemorating the centenary of the 1925-26 Exhibition, local publisher Brian Miller delivered several talks on the four exhibitions held in Dunedin (1862, 1865, 1889-90 and 1925-26).  Above he spoke on the theme of "Dunedin's Early Exhibitions in a City of Gold" at Opoho church on 12 October.  Miller's talks provide context and perspective on the development of Dunedin and highlight the importance of these exhibitions, for example in developing Dunedin's art scene.
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Feature in the 11 May 2026 Otago Witness. at the Waitaki Museum & Archive in Oamaru.
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