# What to Do in Feilding: Saleyards, Market and Museum

Source: https://godosomething.fun/guides/new-zealand/what-to-do-in-feilding/
By GoDoSomethingFun Editorial · Published 2026-09-17 · Reviewed 2026-08-21

Home > Guides > New Zealand > What to Do in Feilding: Saleyards, Market and Museum

Editorial guide

![Illustration of timber livestock pens and a raised auction rostrum a block from a small country town's square, where market stalls stand beneath a clock tower ringed by two-storey Edwardian shopfronts](https://cdn.godosomething.fun/media/site__guide-new-zealand-what-to-do-in-feilding.webp?v=99f65256)

Which Feilding experiences fit your trip — the Friday saleyards tour and farmers' market, the Coach House Museum, Makino's heated pools, the cinema, mini golf, steam rail and the art centre, and what each one publishes, or leaves unpublished, on price and hours as of August 2026.

## What to do in Feilding

Feilding's headline experience is a working livestock saleyard in the middle of an Edwardian town centre, and you can walk through it: retired local farmers lead a guided tour every Friday at 11am, and as of August 2026 it costs NZ$15 an adult and has to be booked in advance through Feilding & District Promotion — at least seven days ahead for a group of six or more, and before 3pm the day before for everyone else. As of August 2026 Friday morning also holds the farmers' market in Manchester Square, so that is the day to aim for if your dates can move. Feilding is a rural service town on State Highway 54 with an estimated population of 17,650 in June 2025, 20 kilometres north of Palmerston North, and what this guide checked is mostly indoors — a museum, a heated pool complex, a cinema, mini golf, a steam rail museum and an art centre, with parks and the town square around them, a sample of what the town publishes rather than an inventory of it. For how long it all adds up to, see [how many days you need in Feilding](https://godosomething.fun/guides/how-many-days-in-feilding/); the table below matches each option to a kind of visit.

## The options compared

Every price and opening hour below is published by the operator, by the council, or — for Feilding Mini Golf and the Feilding Steam Rail Museum — by Feilding & District Promotion's community directory, read on 7 August 2026, and these are the places we checked, a sample of what the town publishes rather than an inventory of it.

| Experience | Cost and when (as published, August 2026) | Choose this if |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Feilding Saleyards Guided Tour | NZ$15 an adult, NZ$5 a child of 12 and under, NZ$10 a student, NZ$8 a head on a group booking of six or more; Friday 11am; group bookings must be made at least 7 days before the tour date and all other bookings before 3pm the day prior, and are confirmed by return email | The working stockyard in the middle of town is the reason you came |
| Feilding Farmers Market | Friday 8.30am to 1.00pm in Manchester Square; Feilding & District Promotion publishes no admission charge for the market itself, though its stalls sell goods | You are here on a Friday and want the produce end of a farming district |
| The Coach House Museum | NZ$15 an adult, NZ$6 for 5 to 17, preschoolers free, NZ$40 for a family group of two adults and three children; 10am to 4pm seven days, closed Good Friday, Christmas Day and the morning of ANZAC Day | You want somewhere indoors that does not depend on the day of the week |
| Makino Aquatic Centre | NZ$5.50 an adult swimmer, NZ$4.50 a school child, NZ$4.50 a senior citizen or Community Services Card holder, NZ$3.00 a preschooler beyond the two under-5s admitted free with one paying adult, NZ$17.00 for a family of 1 adult and 4 children or 2 adults and 3 children, spectators no charge, and caregiver-to-child supervision ratios published on the centre's rules and guidelines page; 6:00am to 9:00pm on weekdays, 8:00am to 6:00pm at weekends, and on its opening-hours page 10:00am to 6:00pm on public holidays and 1:00pm to 6:00pm on ANZAC Day, the same page adding that over the festive period its hours look a little different and asking you to check its Festive Season Hours schedule | You are travelling with children, or the weather has shut the outdoors down |
| Focal Point Cinema Feilding | NZ$17.00 an adult before 5pm and NZ$20.00 from 5pm, NZ$14.50 a child under 15, with 3 years and under free on a parent's lap and no allocated seat provided; priced by session start rather than by day | You want an afternoon or evening indoors without leaving town |
| Feilding Mini Golf | NZ$5.00 an adult, NZ$2.00 a child or Goldcard holder; 10.00am to 4.00pm at weekends and on public and school holidays, closed on ordinary weekdays, and weather permitting | Your visit lands on a weekend or a holiday and you have children along |
| Feilding Steam Rail Museum | Admission by donation; Saturdays 9am to 3pm, other times by arrangement | You are here on a Saturday and locomotives are your thing |
| Feilding Art Centre | The centre publishes no admission price; 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 1pm on Saturday, with the society adding that it is often open until 4pm on a Saturday and inviting you to check in; closed Sundays; public holiday hours may vary | You want an exhibition to look at and a shop of local work |
| Kowhai Park and Timona Park | The council publishes no charge and no opening hours for either park | You want gardens, playgrounds, a pump track and a riverside park |

## The saleyards tour: a working stockyard in the middle of town

Feilding's stockyards sit two blocks from the town centre, on the original yards in use since the 1880s, and the tour walks you through the 330 sheep pens and into the cattle rostrum while the selling goes on; the saleyards' own page describes them as "one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere" and, as of August 2026, puts their twice-weekly sales at an average of 15,000 sheep and 1,400 head of cattle a week. Your guides are retired local farmers, and the regional tourism body ManawatuNZ says one of them is a former drover.

As of August 2026 the tour runs weekly on Friday at 11am and costs NZ$15 an adult, NZ$5 a child of 12 and under, NZ$10 a student — Intermediate, Secondary or University, as the operator defines that band — and NZ$8 a head on a group booking of six people or more. There is no booking calendar to click: as of August 2026 Feilding & District Promotion takes bookings by phone or email from its Manchester Square office, and the form its tour page links to is an enquiry route rather than a booking engine, because the form itself says your booking is not confirmed until you receive email confirmation back. Two cut-offs travel with that, both published on the form as of August 2026: a group booking — the same booking of six people or more that carries the NZ$8 rate — must be made at least seven days before the tour date, and every other booking before 3pm the day prior to it. As of August 2026 ManawatuNZ says advance bookings are essential, and Feilding & District Promotion asks you to arrive 15 minutes early, under the Drover and Dog silhouette outside the yards on Manchester Street.

How long you stay is not published as a single figure, and the surfaces this guide checked disagree: the saleyards' own site, Feilding & District Promotion, which takes the booking, and the regional tourism body ManawatuNZ. As of August 2026 Feilding & District Promotion says at least 60 minutes and longer if your interest holds; the saleyards' own site runs from 30 minutes to hours if you wish; ManawatuNZ describes approximately one to two hours. The saleyards' own site and the promotion body that takes the booking each tie the length to how interested you are, while ManawatuNZ publishes its one-to-two-hour band without that condition. Plan on the booking body's at least 60 minutes and leave the afternoon loose. One thing to sort at the booking stage: the promotion page advertises the saleyard's health and safety rules but carries no link to them, so ask what they require when you book.

[See what else is on around Feilding](https://godosomething.fun/new-zealand/manawatu-wanganui/feilding/)

## The farmers' market: the same square, the same morning

Feilding & District Promotion runs the farmers' market beneath the clocktower on the cobblestoned quadrant of Manchester Square, from 8.30am to 1.00pm on Friday as of August 2026 — which is what makes a Friday visit do double duty with the saleyards tour. As of August 2026 the promotion body describes about 30 stallholders each week, selling seasonal produce, cut flowers and seedlings, with the growers and producers themselves behind the tables. As of August 2026 neither its market page nor its homepage publishes a Friday when the market does not run, a seasonal break or a wet-weather policy, so check the site before you build a morning around it.

[Plan a Friday in Feilding](https://godosomething.fun/new-zealand/manawatu-wanganui/feilding/)

## The Coach House Museum: an indoor stop on South Street

The Coach House Museum on South Street does not care what day you turn up: as of August 2026 it opens 10am to 4pm seven days, and closes on Good Friday, Christmas Day and the morning of ANZAC Day. As of August 2026 entry is NZ$15 an adult, NZ$6 for children and youth from 5 to 17 and free for preschoolers, with a family group — which the museum defines as exactly two adults plus three children — at NZ$40; group and guided-tour rates exist but are arranged in advance and are not published. As of August 2026 the museum states that it is wheelchair friendly, with disabled access and parking, a wheelchair and a mobility scooter available for visitors, a changing table, and on-site parking that suits motorhomes and buses.

[Find more Feilding things to do](https://godosomething.fun/new-zealand/manawatu-wanganui/feilding/)

## Makino Aquatic Centre: heated pools and the wet-weather plan

As of August 2026 Manawatū District Council's Makino Aquatic Centre keeps three heated pools indoors all year — a 25-metre six-lane pool at 27.5 degrees, a play pool with a shallow beach-style end at 31 degrees and a learn-to-swim pool at 32 degrees — and adds an outdoor complex with a 50-metre pool, a learner pool, a diving pool and a toddler pool for the outdoor season. The centre does not publish that season's opening or closing dates (as of August 2026), so ask before you count on the outdoor pools. As of August 2026 the indoor centre opens 6:00am to 9:00pm Monday to Friday and 8:00am to 6:00pm at weekends, and its opening-hours page and its site-wide footer disagree on public holidays: the opening-hours page gives 10:00am to 6:00pm, with ANZAC Day at 1:00pm to 6:00pm, while the footer defers to "as advertised", and the opening-hours page warns that festive-season hours differ again. Swimming costs NZ$5.50 an adult, NZ$4.50 a school child, NZ$4.50 for a senior citizen or Community Services Card holder, NZ$3.00 a preschooler and NZ$17.00 for a family — one adult with four children, or two adults with three — with spectators admitted at no charge, up to two under-fives free with one paying adult, and those family shapes bounded by the caregiver-to-child supervision ratios and the over-16 caregiver requirement for under-8s that the centre publishes on its rules and guidelines page (as of August 2026). As of August 2026 this is a community pool that closes to public use for swim meets and announces those closures on its own site, makino.co.nz, so look before you drive over.

[Line up a Feilding swim day](https://godosomething.fun/new-zealand/manawatu-wanganui/feilding/)

## The cinema and the mini golf course: filling an afternoon

Focal Point Cinema Feilding on Manchester Street prices by session start rather than by day: as of August 2026 an adult pays NZ$17.00 before 5pm and NZ$20.00 from 5pm, a child under 15 pays NZ$14.50 with 3 years and under free on a parent's lap and no allocated seat provided, and seniors pay the adult price at both ends of the day. As of August 2026 its Family Pass costs NZ$55.00 before 5pm and NZ$60.00 from 5pm and comes with four conditions attached: the group is exactly four people, either two adults and two children or one adult and three; it is a single payment with no splitting; the children must be 14 or under, which is a lower ceiling than its own under-15 child ticket; and it cannot be used on R16 or R18 films.

Feilding Mini Golf is an 18-hole course built and operated by the Feilding Lions Club, and the directory entry describing it adds that it is manned by volunteers. As of August 2026 the course is published under two different street addresses: Feilding & District Promotion's community directory and the ManawatuNZ listing that links back to it both place it at Makino Park, Church Street, while Manawatū District Council's own Feilding playgrounds page lists the same course as Feilding Lions Mini Golf on Aorangi Street. Set your map to whichever of those two streets you can confirm on the day, because no source this guide read reconciles them. As of August 2026 Feilding & District Promotion's community directory publishes its hours as 10.00am to 4.00pm at weekends and on public and school holidays only, so it is shut on an ordinary weekday, and even in season it runs weather permitting. The same directory prices it at NZ$5.00 an adult and NZ$2.00 a child or Goldcard holder (as of August 2026), and neither the directory nor the ManawatuNZ listing publishes a booking route or an online ticket — you turn up.

[Check what else is on in Feilding](https://godosomething.fun/new-zealand/manawatu-wanganui/feilding/)

## Steam rail and the art centre: two stops run by local societies

The Feilding and District Steam Rail Society keeps its depot on Gladstone Street and its museum at the corner of Gladstone and Haybittle Streets, which Feilding & District Promotion's community directory lists as open Saturdays 9am to 3pm with other times by arrangement, and admission by donation, as of August 2026. As of August 2026 the Society also runs mainline excursions, but they are occasional rather than scheduled: each one goes up on its events site, events.steamrail.org.nz, when bookings open, and there is a notification list to join — which means a visitor picking dates in advance cannot plan a trip around one.

The Feilding Art Centre on Manchester Street is the public face of the Feilding and District Art Society, which its own site says the town's creative groups came together to establish in 2003. As of August 2026 the society publishes that exhibitions change every month, and its shop sells handcrafted paintings, ceramics, jewellery and sculpture by local makers. As of August 2026 the society publishes the Manchester Street centre's hours as 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 1pm on Saturday, adds in its own words that it is often open until 4pm on a Saturday and invites you to check in, gives Sundays as closed, and notes that public holiday hours may vary; no admission price is published at all, so ask at the door what entry costs.

[Browse Feilding activities and stays](https://godosomething.fun/new-zealand/manawatu-wanganui/feilding/)

## Parks, gardens and the Edwardian square

Kowhai Park on South Street has been one of Feilding's key recreational areas for more than a century, in council ownership since 1906: 10.2 hectares holding the Mason Family Rose Garden's 150 bushes, a camellia walk opened in 1991, two playgrounds, and a heritage area with the old racecourse entrance gates and the 1916 Old Tote building. Timona Park is 24 hectares of riverside on the Oroua, and as of August 2026 the council's own description of it gives a pump track, a recently updated playground, public toilets and, in the council's own words, "free-to-use barbeques along the river side of the park"; the council also lists swimming in the Oroua among the park's features, though that page publishes nothing about water quality, supervision or safety. Another publisher does: Land, Air, Water Aotearoa carries this stretch on lawa.org.nz as the swim site Ōroua River at Timona Park, and as of August 2026 the long-term E. coli grade LAWA publishes for it is Poor — a grade LAWA bases on up to five years of data and describes as a guide to the general water quality at the site. Read LAWA's swim-site page for the reach, not the council's park page, before anyone gets in. As of August 2026 Victoria Park has a fitness trail and Johnston Park a velodrome, and the council publishes no opening hours and no entry charge for Kowhai, Timona, Victoria or Johnston Park. Awahuri Forest Kitchener Park on Kawakawa Road is a bush reserve of kahikatea, tōtara, rimu and kōwhai, with clearings along its tracks that suit a picnic or a slow walk.

Around all of it is the town centre, where the district plan encourages new building in the Edwardian style of the 1900s commercial buildings already there.

[Work out how many days Feilding needs](https://godosomething.fun/guides/how-many-days-in-feilding/)

## FAQ

**What is there to do in Feilding on a Friday?**

As of August 2026 Friday morning holds both the market and the saleyards tour: the farmers' market runs 8.30am to 1.00pm in Manchester Square and the saleyards guided tour starts at 11am at NZ$15 an adult, so a market breakfast and the tour fit into one morning. Start the tour booking with Feilding & District Promotion by phone, email or its enquiry form — as of August 2026 a group of six or more must book at least seven days before the tour date and everyone else before 3pm the day prior — because there is no booking calendar to check and the booking is confirmed only when Feilding & District Promotion emails you back.

**What can you do in Feilding with children?**

Start with the pool and the mini golf course. As of August 2026 Makino Aquatic Centre charges NZ$4.50 a school child and NZ$17.00 for a family of one adult with four children or two adults with three, and Feilding Mini Golf charges NZ$2.00 a child but opens only at weekends and on public and school holidays, weather permitting. Makino also publishes caregiver-to-child supervision ratios on its rules and guidelines page, so read those against the party you are bringing before you count on a family ticket. As of August 2026 Kowhai Park and Timona Park add three playgrounds and a pump track between them, at no published charge.

**What is there to do in Feilding when it rains?**

The Coach House Museum, Makino Aquatic Centre's indoor complex, Focal Point Cinema Feilding and the Feilding Art Centre are all indoors. As of August 2026 the Coach House Museum opens 10am to 4pm seven days at NZ$15 an adult — closing on Good Friday, Christmas Day and the morning of ANZAC Day — Makino Aquatic Centre's three heated indoor pools open from 6:00am on weekdays and 8:00am at weekends, with its opening-hours page adding 10:00am to 6:00pm on public holidays and 1:00pm to 6:00pm on ANZAC Day, hours the same page qualifies by warning that over the festive period they look a little different and asking you to check its Festive Season Hours schedule, and Focal Point Cinema Feilding charges NZ$17.00 an adult for a session starting before 5pm. The Feilding Art Centre opens 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 1pm on Saturday, though the society adds that it is often open until 4pm on a Saturday and invites you to check in; it is closed Sundays, its public holiday hours may vary, and it publishes no admission price at all (as of August 2026).

**Can you get around Feilding without a car?**

Within limits, yes. On Connect's published timetables as of August 2026, the Feilding Orbiter, route 301, makes eleven runs each weekday and six at weekends from Manchester Square, and route 302 connects to Palmerston North with sixteen departures under its Monday-to-Friday heading and eleven under its weekend one, plus a further departure listed as a special service. Fares are worked out by the number of zones a journey crosses rather than as a flat rate (as of August 2026), so check the operator's fare table for the trip you want.

## Before you go

Two things want doing before the day itself, on what was published as of August 2026: book the saleyards tour with Feilding & District Promotion, which takes it by phone or email rather than through a booking engine, and check the pool's own site if a swim is in the plan, because it closes to public use for swim meets. The form its tour page links to starts that conversation rather than closing it — the booking is confirmed by return email — and as of August 2026 it asks for a group booking of six or more at least seven days before the tour date, and every other booking before 3pm the day prior. As of August 2026 the Feilding and District Information Centre shares a service desk with the library team at Te Āhuru Mōwai on Stafford Street, which is where to ask about anything an operator's page leaves open. If you can pick your week, Feilding & District Promotion has Rural Day on Friday 9 October 2026, which it describes as a free public event filling Manchester Square with farm animals, rides, displays and competitions. An eSIM sorted before you land makes it easy to check an operator's page from the footpath, which on this itinerary is the variable that decides the day.

[Compare places to stay in Feilding](https://godosomething.fun/new-zealand/manawatu-wanganui/feilding/#stays)

Sponsored link: [Set up a New Zealand eSIM with Saily](https://go.saily.site/aff_c?offer_id=101&aff_id=15674)

## Sources

Every fact in this guide traces to operator, council, environmental-monitoring and tourism pages at feildingsaleyards.co.nz, feilding.co.nz, coachhousemuseum.nz, makino.co.nz, mdc.govt.nz, feilding.focalpointcinema.co.nz, feildingartsociety.com, steamrail.org.nz, events.steamrail.org.nz, goconnect.org.nz, manawatunz.co.nz, lawa.org.nz and en.wikipedia.org, plus the saleyards tour enquiry form Feilding & District Promotion links to at forms.gle and docs.google.com, all checked between 7 and 9 August 2026.