Giant advent calendar for Tauranga CBD

A giant advent calendar is going to be installed in the heart of Tauranga's CBD area from Saturday.

The calendar is designed to be an interactive experience for people shopping, working or visiting the central city and it is a collaboration between Tauranga City Council and Downtown Tauranga.

Downtown Tauranga spokeswoman Sally Cooke said the calendar was "about us acknowledging the days leading up to Christmas in an interactive and tactile way".

The first of 24 display windows will be opened at midday on Saturday, to tie in with the Tauranga Trustpower Christmas Parade, and every day leading up to Christmas thereafter.

While the contents of the calendar are being kept secret until they are opened, Cooke said there was a lot of effort involved.

"I know a lot of community groups have created displays. It's been a real labour of love," she said.

"We tasked them to do something that captured the magic of Christmas, and there are some really unique displays."

Cooke said there was a lot of construction in the central city at the moment and the calendar was a way to help create some Christmas atmosphere in the CBD.

Each advent calendar window will be opened by a member of the Downtown Tauranga team about 9am each day from Saturday.

The 24 different window displays have been created by Mockingbird (in association with Acorn Foundation), Bethlehem Pottery Club, St John Youth, Inspire Education, Kai Aroha Charity Group, Tuskany Agency, Downtown Tauranga and the Christmas Heirloom Company, with project partners Tauranga City Council, Big Picture, Resene and Dobsons.