Santa ready for parade in Napier
Santa is looking forward to being the special guest once again at the Napier City Christmas Parade, on Sunday, December 2.
While the man in red was too busy preparing for his worldwide whirlwind delivery tour on Christmas Eve to provide a lengthy comment today, he did manage to send a quick message to say that he thought Napier children are some of the best behaved he has seen lately — at least, that’s what it has seemed like from his sleigh.
The parade will start at 1pm, leaving from Clive Memorial Square, travelling up Tennyson Street, across Hastings Street, and turning right into Emerson Street, finishing at Clive Memorial Square.
It will be followed by a Christmas Fiesta, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm.
The parade is a collaborative effort by Napier City Council (NCC), Mitre 10 MEGA Napier and Hastings and Napier City Business Inc, which has included advertising the event, providing materials and resources for floats and displays, and organising the Christmas Fiesta.
The Mitre 10 MEGA Napier and Hastings team will also be handing goodies out to kids before the parade, while the fiesta will feature entertainment, a bouncy castle, food stalls, and Santa’s grotto — an opportunity for photos with Santa.
While Santa is in town he “borrows’ a sleigh designed and constructed by MTG Hawke’s Bay and Council depot staff, which was first used in the parade in 2015.
“One thing really stands out every year for me at the parade — the obvious delight it brings to all the children,” says NCC marketing manager, Rebecca Ainsworth. “That’s why Napier City Council choose to put this event on every year.”
NCC is also participating in other ways, with MTG Hawke’s Bay focusing on Christmas crafts in the kids’ Drop In Zone, and the National Aquarium of New Zealand and Animal Control being represented in the parade.
There are 45 registrations to date for this year’s parade, including four pipe bands, three marching groups and a range of mascots, says event organiser Jonathan Smith of Eventimento.
“We’ve got not-for-profit organisations, businesses, community organisations — all sorts.
“The participants really are a representation of our diverse communities and their take on Christmas, what it means to them.”