Record crowd for Christmas in the park

Dave Dobbyn rocking Christmas in the Park in Napier.

A record crowd turned out for Saturday's Cox Partners Christmas in the Park staged at Anderson Park in Napier and a delighted organiser David Trim was left with something of a challenge.

How is he and all those involved in putting the big event together going to improve on that next year?

"That is certainly a challenge," he said.

A crowd of around 27,000 packed the park - the biggest crowd since the first festive event was put on nine years ago.

"It was an absolutely wonderful night and the atmosphere was amazing," Mr Trim said, adding he had no fears or concerns when dark clouds rolled in in the late afternoon and delivered a downpour.

"We had about 5000 people in here at that time and some ran to their cars - but we could see it was going to pass over pretty quickly."

If anything it had a beneficial effect.

"It helped cool things down and it dried out really quickly."

Mr Trim said the star act, Dave Dobbyn, told him his time in Hawke's Bay had been very special.

"This is the first Christmas in the Park he has performed at anywhere."

Mr Dobbyn had also visited some schools on Friday and spent time with young songwriters at the EIT.

His performance featured a fine mix of his extensive back catalogue and he was joined for some songs by pupils from Reignier School and St Patricks School.

The Project Prima Volta singers also joined him on stage for a number.

Local band Naked Gun and singer Daniel Munro also performed - "and they proved that Hawke's Bay has much home grown talent to be proud of," Mr Trim said.

One of the trademarks of Christmas in the Park is the arrival of Santa.

"We always look to do something different."

So the big chap with the white beard rose up high into the air behind the big stage on a mechanical lifter - to the delight of the thousands of children who cheered his arrival.

An audio narration of the Christmas story was fused with music and punctuated by fireworks.

Mr Trim said apart from a few reported arrests for minor incidents the total alcohol ban was well observed and people enjoyed themselves.

It had become the largest free entry major professional event in the region and also a "must go to" event, Mr Trim said.

He applauded the more than 250 volunteers who stepped in to turn "a big bare patch of grass" into an entertainment arena, and said it was only made possible through the support of local businesses like Cox Partners and Greenmeadows New World.