Northland's biggest outdoor event, the Field Days, is running at Dargaville for the next three days and with the looming drought in that part of the country, conditions are likely to be hot and dusty.
Natasha Stubbing from the Northland Regional Council holding a possum burger. Photo: SUPPLIED
Exhibitors will be displaying their wares on 500 sites and organisers are hoping for at least the same number of visitors as last year, when 25,000 passed through the gates.
Field Days Society president Lew Duggan says the lack of rain has put extra pressure on the committee and volunteers helping with the event, as most of them are local farmers.
This year the Northland Field Days committee will be offering up to five agriculture students a leg up, with scholarships of up to $2000.
Also new on the menu this year will be mini possum burgers at the Northland Regional Council's marquee. Novel wild food treats have become a bit of a tradition for the council there, with previous offerings including wasp larvae ice-cream, possum and goat meat pies, and wild rabbit sausages.