Entries sit at 639 compared to last year's 750.
Despite the drop, organisers are still extremely pleased with entries, considering five years ago they stood about the 450 mark.
Awards publicity officer Shona Hewlett said the entries were still ''extremely'' high.
''I think anything we get over 500 is pretty awesome,'' Ms Hewlett said.
''The competition is still the biggest in New Zealand by a huge margin,'' she said.
There would be some strong competition at the awards for competitors, she said.
Ms Hewlett was not sure why numbers had dipped but said financial constraints could be among reasons.
''The cost of travel is not getting any cheaper,'' Ms Hewlett noted.
Awards convener Phil Geary said the event had attracted big increases for two consecutive years. In 2012, entries totalled 709.
Mr Geary said he was also happy about achieving a total that was ''anything'' better than 500 entries.
The awards had attracted good numbers from the North Island, Mr Geary said.
Between 25% and 30% of entries were from contestants new to the Gore-based competition.
''It's a trend we've had for about the last three years,'' Mr Geary said.
A big increase in the intermediate section numbers in the two previous years underscored the continued rise in popularity of country music, he said.
There were good numbers in the junior and intermediate sections for this year's awards, Mr Geary said.
Tickets for the round of events had gone on sale at the beginning of April and it was usual for events to ''pretty'' much sell out, Mr Geary said.
