‘Haven’t been rained out yet’: Director of iconic Hawke’s Bay Blossom Parade reflects on 25 years of floats and fun

Hastings Blossom Parade director Lyn Mackie is celebrating 25 years of running the event. Photo / Paul Taylor

After 25 years in the parade-planning business, Lyn Mackie has seen her fair share of fabulous floats.

And, despite the occasional close call, the annual Hastings Blossom Parade has miraculously never been called off due to bad weather.

“We haven’t been rained out yet,” Mackie said.

“We’ve had a few times, like last year, where everyone was telling me it’s going to rain because the weather forecast was really bad. I think it ended up raining in the morning and fining up in the afternoon.”

The blossom aficionado started her journey in 1998, when she took up a job with Arts Inc Heretaunga, the organisation contracted by Hastings District Council to run the annual event.

“It was part of the job description,” Mackie said.

She said directing the parade involved a lot of flexibility and the ability to go with the flow.

“It’s always an unknown quantity. You never know what you’re going to get until you get it on the day, because it’s rather fluid until you set the parade off.

“You have a plan, but it doesn’t always go according to plan. You have to be pretty flexible.”

Mackie said she learned from the best of the best over the years.

“The chairperson in 1998 was David Fine. He was the key person for the parade and taught me everything I know.

“There was also Te Rangi Huata, who was with Ngāti Kahungunu iwi. He had been involved right from the early days and we all worked as a team.”

She said there had been many great floats over the years, including planes on board trucks, large working organs, and fully blossom-covered structures.

Back in the old days, many of the floats were caked in individually folded paper blossoms. People would start folding as early as November the previous year.

“It takes 700 small blossoms to cover 1sq m. That’s a lot of blossom folding,” Mackie said.

While Mackie said she enjoys the job, she thinks every recent year that goes by will be her last in charge.

“Somebody said to me the other day, ‘you make it look so easy’, but when you’ve been doing something for a while it’s almost automatic. It’s just a matter of putting your head down and sticking to the task.”

Even though gathering entries this year had been a challenge due to the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle, Mackie said she was looking forward to seeing the efforts made for this year’s theme, Our Hastings.

She said it would be a celebration of community and family.

“We’re looking forward to seeing everybody come out. It’s all worth it just to see the smiles on the crowd’s faces.”

Here’s hoping for sunny skies on Saturday, September 23, when the Blossom Parade will brighten up the streets of Hastings.

Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community. He has a particular love for stories about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.