Sun's out for Hawke's Bay's Art Deco celebrations

Fine weather has arrived just in time for a truncated 2022 Napier Art Deco Festival which is being held despite the challenges of the pandemic era. Photo NZME

Fine weather has arrived just in time for a truncated 2022 Napier Art Deco Festival being held despite the challenges of the pandemic era.

The grand, internationally recognised commemoration of the era of the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake and the years that followed and has led to Napier claiming Art Deco Capital of the World starts tomorrow and ends on Sunday.

Some of the trademark larger public events have been canned leaving a programme of 53 mainly ticketed events, limited under the red setting of the Government's Covid-19 Protection Framework. They had been part of a programme bulging with more than 200 registered events.

Among the scene-setters was the Napier City Business Art Deco shop window display competition, which was judged today with a decision to be made overnight and awards announced on the festival's opening day.

After a fortnight dominated by poor weather, which has brought rainfall totalling about 230mm, Napier was bathed in sunshine this afternoon, with MetService forecasting mainly sunny weather, temperatures creeping up to about 28C, and no more of the wet stuff until possible showers on Saturday.

But it could be a damp finale for survivors, with Sunday's forecast for "rain, clearing but remaining cloudy [and] southeasterlies".

The arrival of the festival has come as a relief to Art Deco Trust chair Barbara Arnott who had already noticed the arrival of the vintage and classic cars, and was waiting in anticipation for the era finery of visitors expected to still crowd the city over the next few days.

"I think there will be those who will come whether they've got tickets or not," she said. "We will manage the events appropriately with health and safety in mind, but there is still the style, spirit and commemoration that will spill onto the streets."