Editorial: Wilting heat puts Deco fans to test

Temperatures soared during the Art Deco festival.

We all know the Tremains Art Deco Festival is the hottest thing in February around these here parts.

So hot, however, that the raiment of Deco-goers beggars belief in the temperatures that nature afforded Hawke's Bay for the weekend.

They must have hit 30C in Napier on Saturday, even if the official maximum was 27C at Hawke's Bay Airport.

Walking along the parade, incognito in shorts and T-shirt, it could be observed that some people were wilting in the conditions, inspiring some wonderment about how men and women of those earlier years survived their day outings so heavily clad.

In modern times, the dressing of some children - boys in shorts, braces over their shoulders and bow-ties - would have commanded some circumspection from the authorities.

A period-model perambulator in the shade a few metres from a group of adults with their wine glasses - oblivious to a dog peeing on the wheels of the child carriage before a woman swept through to claim the miscreant canine - was another example of what might have happened had CYF been around in the 30s.

For the purpose of balance, children dressed up for the family indulgence, in an era way beyond the 21st-century child's comprehension, seemed remarkably well behaved.

Naughty little blighters they appeared not.

Back to the elevated temperatures in the Art Deco Capital, it was no surprise to hear the St John Ambulance Service was run off its feet trying to get those hit by heat exhaustion back on their own.

This was just one example of people who had to carry on with their work while everyone else was at play.

Art Deco heroes. We take our hats off to them.