Great turnout for Halloween party (+pics&video)

Hundreds were expected for Rainbow Springs Halloween party on Saturday night, but the numbers who turned up were far more than expected as families lined up to get in.

Among those was Sara Fitzell who went along in a group of about 20 friends and family and described the event as huge.

It took the group more than an hour to get through the gate but her son Jurell Fitzell, 12, got a prize for one of the scariest costumes.

"There weren't many scary things - I was expecting a few more people to dress up."

Kayla Kiore-Marks also took along her family to the event.

She said she didn't think the organisers realised how many people would turn up.

"The idea was a really good concept ... It was just so packed there can't have been very many trick-or-treaters left on the street.

Image 1 of 7: From left, Sara Fitzell, Jurell Fitzell and and Velda Goldsmith got into the spirit of the night. Photo/Stephen Parker

"The kids loved it and we went all out with the kids make-up this year."

Shivaughn Marurai from The Hits team said it was an awesome event.

"The amount of people who turned up far exceeded our expectations, but there were a lot of happy people.

"It was a really beautiful night. We read a spooky story from the cemetery and gave out a lot of balloons to people at the end. We expected a lot of people but were blown away by the enthusiasm and effort a lot had put in to get dressed up."

All proceeds from ticket sales go to the Rainbow Springs Kiwi Programme helping to raise more baby kiwi to go out into the wild.