An Invercargill freestyle motocross rider will perform in front of his home crowd next month when the international Freestyle Kings show rolls into Rugby Park for what organisers say is its only New Zealand date.

Callum Shaw, who grew up in the city, is one of three New Zealand riders in the line-up for Freestyle Kings LIVE on Saturday 5 December, alongside Jed Middon of Taupō and Wellington's Ellie Chew. Headlining are Australian stunt rider Robbie Maddison, best known for riding a motorbike across ocean waves in Tahiti, and Rob Adelberg, who has collected 24 X Games medals, the Otago Daily Times reported on Thursday.

Shaw told the paper that bringing the show to the town he came from meant a great deal, and that he was looking forward to riding in front of family, friends and the wider Southland community. People used to watching rugby at the ground, he said, would see it in a very different light.

Adelberg said it was the troupe's first visit to Invercargill and that riding for a new crowd never got old. The team would hold nothing back, he said.

Turning a rugby ground into a motocross arena takes some work. Ryan Sycamore, the Invercargill City Council's venues and entertainment manager, said Rugby Park would be fully transformed, with the field mown and prepared, protective systems laid over the playing surface and specialist crews brought in to build the ramps and landing course. He described the event as a family-friendly start to summer and said it had been a long time since the community had seen a show of this scale, with thousands expected through the gates.

Rugby Park, home of the Southland Stags, has had a quieter year on the field after the Stags finished 13th in the NPC. The December date comes just before Christmas and after the school year has wrapped up for most Southland students.

The show adds to a run of large outdoor events for the city, with the Burt Munro Challenge following in February.

Tickets are on sale now through Ticketek. The council has not yet released details of road closures or parking arrangements around the ground for the night.