Markets postpone, but fingers crossed for Te Puke's Christmas in the Park

Te Puke Youth Choir at last year's Te Puke Christmas in the Park.

With one exception, there will be no community markets in Te Puke until 2022.

Usually starting in October, organisers Made in Te Puke Trust have decided to focus on one market, coinciding with the Seeka Christmas Float Parade on December 4, with monthly markets starting up again next year.

''I guess we've kind of run out of time to plan,'' says trust member Dale Snell.

''Normally we would start in October but things are just so up in the air with it, it's so hard planning.''

She says the hope is the markets will restart in February, with the possibility of a longer than normal season.

''January is always our worst month because typically everyone's away on holiday and we never have a successful market.''

She says another factor has been the vaccine passport introduction.

''It was quite hard for us to plan not knowing what the requirements would be but we expected the vaccine passport would come into play.''

Trustee Monique Gray says making a firm decision was also the best thing for stallholders.

''It we're not going to run a market this year it gives them an opportunity to find another market to go to or plan to be somewhere else, although other markets are affected as well.''

The organisation is also behind Christmas in the Park and World Fest, an event celebrating Te Puke's cultural diversity, held for the first time in November last year.

While there are still hopes Christmas in the Park will happen, World Fest won't in 2021.

''If we are still in level 2, then Christmas in the Park is definitely not going ahead,'' says Monique.

''In level 1 it will but we will have more precautions than we had last year.

''It's just real touch and go because it's run by volunteers. We feel to get the best value for the community it was better to focus just on Christmas in the Park this year.''

Dale says with the crowd expected for Christmas in the Park, the assumption is that a vaccine passport will be required, which adds to the boxes that will need to be ticked.

''We have got some pre-planning that we've done since the last one and we are hoping to announce a date in the next couple of weeks."

Monique says the trust was already in the process of reviewing its events and Dale says there were already thoughts that World Fest should only happen every two years.