ROCKABILLY SHOW AND SHINE
EVERY NOVEMBER, ROCKABILLY FEVER TAKES OVER PARTS OF CHRISTCHURCH AS THE ANNUAL ROCKABILLY SHOW AND SHINE HITS TOWN
The success of an event can usually be measured by the number of people supporting it, both as entrants and as spectators. If that is the case, then this year’s running of the Level One New Brighton Rockabilly Show and Shine, its fifth year, was a roaring success: an awesome turnout of vehicles and strong crowds staying around for the duration of the early November event. As usual, the weekend of entertainment started on Friday evening, with vehicles gathering at Bishopdale Village Mall, Christchurch, for a cruise across the city to New Brighton Mall to park up and enjoy a cold one at the new Level One Craft Beer and Coffee Bar. Wet and cold weather on the night didn’t help proceedings, but some could call that the calm before the storm, even if
the weather was the opposite. Saturday dawned with much better weather, and, by 8am, things were in full swing, with the open-air market being set up, other areas being readied for the day, and a steady stream of vehicles taking their spot in New Brighton’s Rawhiti Domain. There was plenty of live entertainment throughout the weekend, with The Pistons and Headcase performing on Friday night, Candi and the Rockets and The Runaways during show day, and Boom Boom Deluxe providing the tunes during Saturday night’s dance. The New Brighton Mall
market relocated to the domain for the day and was well supported; and, of course, hundreds of hot rods, and classic, muscle, and vintage cars were on show. The little ones weren’t left out, with a dedicated kids area being set up to allow Mum and Dad to check out the cars uninterrupted. Battery Town held a Strong Arm competition for both men and women, whereby participants had to hold a battery out for as long as possible — those who tried found out that it was exactly as hard as it looked. The early afternoon Rockabilly Belle and Beau Competition didn’t require quite so much brawn, but did manage to draw in a large number of entrants across the four categories: Rockabilly Belle, Rockabilly Beau, Little Miss, and Little Mr. These competitions are very popular at major events
throughout New Zealand, often attracting large crowds, and this one was no different. The show was kept action packed with interludes from The Kaiapoi Rock ’n’ Roll Club, which rocked its way through various demos. Four awards were handed out: Organizer’s Choice, Organizer’s Choice Runner-Up, Promoter’s Choice, and Promoter’s Choice Runner-Up. The four winning vehicles were brought to the stage to allow the crowd to see what the judges had chosen. As the day wound down, there were some tiredlooking organizers, who had worked hard all year to put on another very successful event — so successful, in fact, that they’ve already confirmed 8–9 November as the date for the next one. Lock it in.