Everybody Needs A Good Party – Hands Up For Santa Parade

Everybody will have a good reason to celebrate at this year’s Southland Santa Parade.

Held on the last Saturday in November, the annual event brings the community together for some good old fashioned Christmas cheer.

Organised by the Southland Christmas Parade Charitable Trust, many of the floats are kept in storage and brought out each year after a bit of a tidy up.

Event manager Alice Pottinger said they had 23 floats in stock but this year there was also a new one coming in.

Businesses and community groups also made their own floats, and the trust was looking for lots of volunteers to be involved in the parade.

Whether it be dressing up as an elf, pixie, fairy or clown, or just walking the street as a marshall, at least 30 helpers were needed before the event, and a further 200 on the day.

Originally started back in 1999, the Santa Parade came together after two local business men Fred Tulett and John Green decided that the city needed one.

Alice said there has only been one year that the event didn’t go ahead because of bad weather, and she was already starting to field some inquiries from people about being involved.

Last year a crowd of between 17,000 and 20,000 people came to watch the parade – which this year will be on November 28.

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