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Sukoluhle Ndlovu, Midlands Correspondent
ABOUT 90 percent of exhibition space for the annual Midlands Show Society to be held in Gweru next week has been taken, organisers said yesterday.

About 30 000 people are expected to visit the show venue between 16-19 August. Midlands Show Society chairperson Mr Augustine Mupakurirwa said preparations were at an advanced stage adding that 90 percent of available stands have already been booked. The show will run under the theme, “Steering the economy to vibrancy”. The Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement, Perrance Shiri, will be the guest of honour.

“About 90 percent of our stands have been taken up by exhibitors, both old and new. The Minister of Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Perrance Shiri will be the guest of honour,” said Mr Mupakurirwa.

“We have shifted the dates from the traditional July 26 to 29 to August 16 to 19 because of the harmonised 2018 elections and this year we are expecting around 30 000 people to attend, which will be an improvement from last year’s figure of 20 000.”

He said 180 exhibitors have confirmed their participation adding that 18 would be exhibiting for the first time.

“We have 180 exhibitors who have confirmed their participation for now. By the end of the week, the figure might have gone up since we are at 90 percent full.

We have new exhibitors like Zambezi Bulk Irrigation, Allied Timbers and Agricura. Some of our frequent exhibitors including National Tyre Services, TM Group of companies, MacDonald Bricks and Zimbabwe Land Commission have also confirmed participation,” said Mr Mupakurirwa.

“We are not yet sure if there will be cattle exhibition or not following outbreaks of the deadly foot and mouth disease in the province. So we might have very few cattle or no cattle at all. If that happens all of them must be sold since none will be taken back as a way of controlling foot and mouth disease.”