Kaitaia's festive season has been marred by bad behaviour but it was not Christmas Grinch who ruined the town's Santa Parade.
Organisers and spectators at last Saturday's parade were appalled by teenagers fighting, jostling smaller children and old people, pelting bystanders with paint bombs and throwing eggs at Santa.
The
scuffles between groups of young people started well before the main street was closed and the parade under way.
Witnesses said teenage girls appeared to be the worst behaved, and possibly the best shots, at least one girl threw an egg that hit Santa. A woman who was at the parade said the teenagers were running amok, throwing paint and other substances in what she describes as "one step short of a riot".
Only days to go before the Kamo Christmas Parade, organisers say they have never had problem behaviour, and no Santa was ever harmed in the making of the event. Long-time helper Terry Hooper, from Kamo Hammer Hardware, said water bombs were a minor nuisance one year. Organisers asked local shops not to stock them the following year, and no one got water-bombed at the parade. "Touch wood, we've been very lucky," Mr Hooper said.
