City park top spot for the countdown
Despite having nine freezers, icecreams nearly ran out at the Teahouse on the Lake at Pukekura Park on New Year’s Eve.
‘‘We sold so much icecream, we had to get in emergency icecream delivered because we ran out,’’ owner Angie Orsborn said.
For the third year in a row, as part of the New Plymouth District Council-run TSB Festival of Lights, Pukekura Park hosted the Powerco Lights Up The Night event on New Year’s Eve.
As well as the usual lighting installations, there was glow face painting, pop-up dance crews, bands, two silent discos and a New Year’s Eve countdown for children at 8pm.
Official figures are not yet in, but organisers estimate the number of people in attendance to have been between 6000 and 7000.
Roughly 9000 people gathered in the park to welcome in 2020.
Orsborn said the festival had been great, with lots of people out enjoying family time.
There had been visitors from outside the region as well as many locals rediscovering the city’s green gem, she said.
‘‘They’re just chilling – the park is good for that.’’
In a statement, district council events lead and festival manager Hayley Olliver said that despite numbers being down on previous years, it had been a great crowd.
‘‘They were a fantastic and well-behaved crowd, helping us bring in the new year with a wonderful vibe.’’
A police spokesperson confirmed the crowd at Pukekura Park was well behaved and there were no arrests or incidents.
Elsewhere in New Plymouth on New Year’s Eve, one person was arrested for breach of their bail conditions and another person, a man, was arrested for wilful damage and is due to appear in the New Plymouth District Court on January 6, the spokesperson confirmed.
A liquor ban in the city centre was reinstated in the week of New Year’s Eve. It had lapsed for two years following a council error.