The two Super 15 sides will clash in a warm-up match at Whitestone Contracting Stadium, kicking off at 4.30pm.
The match will be the second game of the pre-season for both teams.
The North Otago Rugby Football Union is making the most of the match, with 32 corporate tents sold around the ground.
A concert has been organised for straight after the game. A stage will be wheeled on to the ground and the concert, featuring bands from Christchurch, Dunedin and Oamaru, will kick off at 6.30pm. Two years ago the same teams clashed in Oamaru on the No2 ground, because the main ground at the stadium was being used by cricket.
But this time, the match will be on the main oval. North Otago Rugby Football Union chief executive Colin Jackson said it had been watered throughout the dry period last month and yesterday's rain would have put it it in prime condition for the match.
The match two years ago, which was won by the Crusaders, attracted a crowd of about 3000, and Jackson was hoping for a similar-sized crowd, although that depended on the weather.
''It is great for the town to have two teams like this around and there are high expectations that come with the Highlanders this year, so I'm sure a good crowd will come along,'' he said.
The teams would travel to Oamaru on the day and return home after the game.
Both teams were expected to field their All Blacks. Some of the Highlanders' All Blacks had only limited game time against the Chiefs in Taupo on Saturday and are bound to be more prominent on Friday.
The Crusaders did not play any of their All Blacks in their warm-up game and new skipper Kieran Read is one of the internationals who are likely to appear on Friday.
Some Highlanders will spend some time in Oamaru schools earlier in the day.
The Crusaders lost 27-26 to the Hurricanes in their first warm-up game in Timaru on Saturday.
The Highlanders lost 36-14 to the Chiefs in Taupo.
Jackson said the union was disappointed to lose one of its main sponsors, Summit Wool Spinners.
Summit Wool Spinners announced last week it had sold its plant in Oamaru and the plant would close.
Jackson said the union had been informed before Christmas that the company, which had been involved with it for 13 years, would not be continuing its sponsorship. He declined to say how much the company had been paying.
Jackson said they were negotiating with another potential sponsor.
