Celebrating 150 years for Okaihau
Three days of events to mark town’s birthday
Okaihau celebrates its 150th anniversary this Easter Weekend with three days of events including theatre, a country dance, a grand parade and a bike ride.
The festivities begin at 6pm this Friday with a meetand-greet in the Okaihau College hall followed by a performance of Alice D in Puketi, a localised version of Alice in Wonderland.
Saturday’s attractions include food stalls, historic displays, a slide show in the community hall and a cake cutting ceremony from 10am followed by a grand parade along Settlers Way, Okaihau’s main street, at 11am and displays of wood-chopping, pit-sawing and dog-trialling. For the kids there will be a treasure hunt and Thomas the Tank Engine rides, while at 7pm the Okaihau Lions will host a country dance in the college hall.
On Sunday an interdenominational church service will be held in the college hall at 10.30am before a tree planting ceremony at 11.30am and a ride along the Twin Coast Cycle Trail as far as the Harrison farm in the Utakura Valley, where Snow Harrison has assembled a veritable outdoor museum of vintage machinery.
A book detailing the town’s 150-year history has also been produced to mark the occasion.
Okaihau Community Association secretary Lindy Mason hoped for a turnout of more than 1000 people with former residents travelling from as far away as Perth to take part.
Tickets to the theatre performance and the country dance will be available at the door only if they don’t sell out beforehand. Email okaihau150tickets@gmail. com if you don’t want to miss out.