Holly, jolly Christmas Parade
Thousands of people lined the dull and drizzly streets of New Plymouth’s central business district for the city’s 50th annual Christmas parade.
More than 50 floats had been registered to take part in Saturday’s procession, which was organised by the New Plymouth Central Lions Club, and a sprinkling of rain didn’t stop the joy on youngsters’ faces – although a few did look overwhelmed when Ferdinand, the the Taranaki Bulls mascot, attempted to get a high five from them.
This was the first year that the parade had been held at what organisers described as a ‘‘family friendly time’’ instead of in the evening, and as the sound of the bagpipes echoed through the city streets at noon, children who had been waiting patiently jumped up with glee – Santa was coming to town.
And he wasn’t the only one taking part: Captain America,
Catwoman, and a couple of Spider-Men were in the procession, while the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter, St John Ambulance, and the SPCA were also represented.
They were joined by cheerleaders, dancers, little Christmas angels and vintage tractors.
The parade was led by a combination of pipebands from New Plymouth, Ha¯wera and Stratford after the New Plymouth Brass Band was forced to pull out because of the weather.
The parade began and finished at the clock tower, with the floats travelling down Devon St before turning onto Liardet St and Ariki St, and it took an hour for the last float to get back to the starting point.
Parade co-ordinator Charles Thurston said the parade had gone fantastically well and had great float entries, despite a small number of the 52 that had registered not taking part on the day.
‘‘The weather obviously caused a few to pull out,’’ he said.
‘‘There were more floats this year than last year.
‘‘Certainly the parade was longer because the first float had got right round to Peggy Gordons well before the tail end floats had gone, so we had about a 100 metre overlap.’’
The decision to move the parade from the evening to noon appears to have been a big success, and Thurston said they were already considering looking at the same format next year.
Among the stars of the parade were Santa and Mrs Claus. They were in the final float, which was shaped like a sleigh pulled by reindeer.
The couple waved from inside their sleigh to the delight of children who were hoping to be on the nice list this year.