Covid, the grinch that steals towns’ Christmas parades

Geraldine and Waimate’s Christmas Parades have been cancelled, with Timaru’s still up in the air, as the country’s Covid-19 alert levels continue to impact on events.

Timaru Christmas Parade committee president Teressa May said the event, planned for December 5, is still ‘‘wheels in motion’’.

‘‘We’re just like everybody else trying to organise an event, it’s going to be very hard to keep it within Government requirements.

‘‘We can keep people in bubbles for each float, but can’t keep the public in theirs.

‘‘There will be thousands of kids all over the place, and you can’t help but be excited, so how do we keep kids in their bubbles?’’ May said.

‘‘We’re very aware of the issues. We don’t want to be the group that becomes a superspreader for the

South Island.’’

She said the organising committee has tried to be creative, but already discarded one possible workaround that would have seen floats staying still and people travelling from float to float.

May said ways to make the town’s Christmas light displays on people’s homes more interactive in case the parade has to be cancelled, are being explored.

‘‘People go all out, and have some amazing displays – we want to support them and also encourage new people,’’ she said.

She said the organising group will wait for as long as it can to make a call.

‘‘The ultimate cut-off to decide will be November 21, but if the Government announces before then that we’ll definitely be in lockdown level 2 until Christmas, that’s the decision made already,’’ she said.

Last year’s parade attracted an estimated 8000-10,000 people, with the Rose Festival, at Caroline Bay, held on the same day.

Rose Festival organisers announced earlier this week the festival would not go ahead this year.

‘‘The Government is doing the best they can under the circumstances, I guess if everyone got vaccinated and toed the line, it would help,’’ May said.

Geraldine’s Christmas parade committee announced their decision to cancel the December 3 event via social media on Wednesday.

Organiser Janene Adams said parades are particularly difficult to manage with restrictions as there are generally no entry and exit points.

Waimate Christmas parade organiser Mandy Tangney said the December 4 event had also been cancelled.

Temuka and Pleasant Point Christmas parade organisers could not be contacted.

Grace McGrath, organiser of Get to the Point on November 6, said the organising committee would meet at the weekend to decide whether the event could go ahead under alert level 2.