All Ready For Santa Parade (Parade Route Map)

In less than 24 hours Invercargill’s annual Santa Parade kicks off, with plenty of entertainment for the whole family.

Organised by the Southland Christmas Parade Charitable Trust, this year there will be a brand new float (top secret), with just one clue as to what it is…. you can live in it and it’s based on a certain kids movie.

Event manager and Head Elf Alice Pottinger said she was overwhelmed by the response from local businesses choosing to sponsor this year’s event, given the current economic climate.

Some businesses and community groups also made their own floats, and she was looking forward to seeing how they all turned out.

Santa’s Mailbox will be on the corner of Dee & Gala Streets for children to post their letter to Santa from 11:30am.

She was also surprised at the response from her plea for volunteers just a month ago – and in true kiwi style they were still coming in at the last minute.

“Some of them come back every single year to help. We’ve had some that have been involved since the parade’s inception.”

Originally started back in 1999, last year a crowd of between 17,000 and 20,000 people came to watch the parade – and the weather forecast for Saturday December 28 is looking pretty good.

Southland Santa Parade starts 2pm from Corner of Gala and Kelvin Streets.