History to come alive with light display
‘‘The Coach House Museum is a stunning collection of Manawatu's transport heritage, from farming to everyday life in the early days.’’ Gary Worsley
Bright lights will dawn on some of Manawatu’s unique history in this year’s Fantasy in Lights display.
The biennial winter event will change venue this year with the Makino Rotary Club setting up camp at the Coach House Museum in Feilding from July 7 to 22.
Previous lighting events had been held in Kowhai Park, but ongoing maintenance work there has reduced the number of trees and natural areas available for placement of the light frames.
Lights coordinator Gary Worsley said shifting the display to one of the town’s icons was an easy decision.
‘‘The new venue offers a great opportunity to promote one of Feilding’s key attractions to both locals and visitors.
‘‘The Coach House Museum is a stunning collection of Manawatu’s transport heritage, from farming to everyday life in the early days.’’
That history will be cast alight when the display hits next week children’s light themes and shapes will be wrapped around the heritage collections and displays inside the museum.
Laser lighting to dance in, bubbles to walk through and various interactive displays will keep families entertained each night of the school holidays.
Manawatu mayor Helen Worboys said the light frames were based on animals, shapes and nursery rhyme characters.
‘‘We are looking forward to seeing how the lights come together in the museum but we know it will be spectacle,’’ she said.
The themes are accompanied by sound and music, and Worboys urged children to look out for the sleeping giant snoring at the door as they entered.
The team from PORSE, an inhome childcare service, will also be storytelling every Saturday night in the open theatre.
Hot food and light novelties will be on sale again.
Fantasy in Lights runs from from 6pm till 8pm during the school holidays. Entry is adults $10, children $2 and a family pass $20.
All proceeds go to community projects.