MCM at the Royal Show 2026: 175 Years of the Royal Agricultural Show, Now at Tweedie

MCM Group is exhibiting at the 2026 Royal Agricultural Show at Tweedie Hall near Howick in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands from 7 to 11 October 2026, the Royal Agricultural Society of Natal’s 175th anniversary show and the first full Royal Show since 2023, with the HZM SK1100 skid steer, the MCM 916 front end loader, the Aerobs utility ATV and ACE Equipment TLBs on the machinery field. This page has the three videos from the stand, a short history of South Africa’s oldest agricultural show, and what to ask the MCM team if you are visiting.

Watch: MCM on the stand at the Royal Show 2026

Quick answer: Three short videos filmed on the MCM stand on 8 October 2026: the arch with the skid steer and ATV, the ACE Equipment gazebo, and a walk-around of the MCM 916 loader.

The clips were filmed on a phone on the showgrounds and tidied up for the web. They are short, vertical and best watched on a phone; tap to play with sound.

What MCM is showing at Tweedie

Quick answer: Compact machines that earn their keep on a Midlands farm: a skid steer, a front end loader, a utility ATV with a tipping bin, and ACE Equipment TLBs, with the full MCM range available to order from the stand.

• HZM SK1100 skid steer: a 1 100 kg-class skid steer for dairy yards, feedlots, sheds and stables, shown with a general-purpose bucket and ready for the attachment range (pallet forks, grapples, augers, mulchers). Sister machine to the MCM MS33 mini skid steer for the tightest spaces.
• MCM 916 front end loader: the entry point into the MCM wheel loader range, built for loading feed, bales, compost and gravel on farms that have outgrown a tractor and front-end attachment.
• Aerobs utility ATV with tipping bin: an orange tipping cargo bed on a farm quad for fence rounds, feed drops and tool runs, from the Aerobs ATV range.
• ACE Equipment TLBs and attachments: under the orange ACE gazebo beside the MCM arch, the team is walking visitors through the ACE Phantom backhoe loader and the quick-hitch attachments that fit it.
• Everything else by order: site dumpers, TLBs, excavators, cherry pickers, mixers and the new engine division. The MCM 37X-S Spring Special price of R475 000 excl. VAT applies for the whole show period.

A short history of the Royal Show

Quick answer: Founded in 1851 as the Pietermaritzburg Fair, granted the Royal title by King Edward VII in 1904, housed at the Pietermaritzburg showgrounds for 120 years, and now, after a move and a missed year, re-established at Tweedie Hall near Howick for its 175th anniversary.

Few events in South Africa have the continuity of the Royal Show. The Pietermaritzburg Agricultural Society held its first fair in December 1851, when Pietermaritzburg was a small colonial capital and farming in the Natal Midlands was finding its feet. For most of its life the show was the week the province came to town: livestock judging and sales in the morning, machinery on the field in the afternoon, and the funfair at night. Generations of KwaZulu-Natal families measured the year by it (The Witness).

The move away from Pietermaritzburg was not a retreat. The Society’s stated aim is a show that is “a full agricultural show, not just an exhibition”, in the words of general manager Wayne Muller, centred on farming, agribusiness and the commercial activity that supports it (AgriNews). The 2025 cancellation followed a scaled-down plan being blocked at the interim venue, which excluded exactly the machinery and equipment displays farmers come to see (Farmer’s Weekly). The decision to shift the 2026 dates from May to October was taken to protect livestock producers while the province managed more than 200 active foot-and-mouth cases (AgriOrbit). That the show is on at all this week, with cattle in the pens and machines on the grass, is the result.

Why the Royal Show matters to an equipment supplier

Quick answer: The Midlands is dairy, timber, sugar, maize and mixed farming country with small towns, steep ground and wet winters. Compact, affordable, serviceable machines sell here because they fit the farms, and the Royal Show is where those farmers compare them side by side.

MCM has exhibited at the Royal Show before, and the pattern is consistent: the visitor is a farmer or a small contractor who needs one machine to do four jobs. A skid steer that cleans a dairy yard on Monday and stacks bales on Tuesday. A loader that handles compost and gravel. A TLB that digs the drainage before the rains. Pricing matters, parts matter more, and the show lets a buyer put a hand on the machine and ask the person who sells it how it is supported. Compare that with the national shows in our NAMPO 2026 round-up and KragDag 2026 reports, and the Royal Show is the one that speaks to KwaZulu-Natal’s specific conditions.

Plan your visit

• Dates and hours: Wednesday 7 to Sunday 11 October 2026, 9 am to 5 pm daily.
• Venue: Royal Showgrounds at Tweedie Hall, 2 Petrus Stroom Road, Howick, alongside the R103. Signposted from the N3 Howick and Tweedie off-ramps. Programme and updates at royalshow.co.za.
• Tickets: through Quicket or at the gate.
• Finding MCM: head for the machinery field and look for the red MCM arch. Bring the make and model of the machine you want to replace, and a photo of your yard or site: it shortens the conversation.
• Finance on the stand: the team can start a finance application at the show. Bring your company registration number and the last three months’ bank statements if you want an answer within 48 to 72 hours.

Frequently asked questions about MCM at the Royal Show 2026

See the machines, or ask for a quote from the stand

If you are in the Midlands this week, come and find the red arch. If you are not, message WhatsApp 081 885 0535 with the machine you are interested in and the team will send a quotation from the showgrounds, or contact your nearest branch. Learn more about the agricultural show tradition and how livestock and machinery exhibitions grew up together.