How to pay your Anzac respects in Rotorua

Rotorua Anzac Day dawn service and parade at Muruika war cemetery at Ohinemutu 2017. Photo/Ben Fraser

The Rotorua District Field of Remembrance will be installed next week to mark the 103rd anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

Each of the named crosses will represent a soldier from the Rotorua district who died in WWI.

The field will open with a consecration ceremony at 5pm on Wednesday at the cenotaph in Government Gardens.

The crosses will be in place until April 29 and visitors are welcome to walk among the crosses and place personal tributes.

Residents can contact Rotorua Lakes Council to check their relatives are included in the list for the field on (07) 348 4199.

Meanwhile, plans are in place for services in Rotorua on Anzac Day itself, April 25.

The annual dawn service will take place at 5.45am starting with a parade and mihi. It will be conducted by the Te Arawa Maori Returned Services League Inc at Ohinemutu.

Prayers, an Anzac dedication, a hymn, and a guest speaker will follow until the service concludes at 6.30am.

The Anzac Day Parade and Civic Memorial Service is also open for all to attend later in the morning. The parade will start at 8.45am at Memorial Drive Parade (lake end of Fenton St).

At 9.30am the hour-long Anzac Civic Memorial Service will start.

The officiating minister will be Reverend Tom Poata, with mayor Steve Chadwick introducing this year's guest speakers: Brig Gen (Rtd) R. Ian Thorpe CBE of MSD and John Paul College drama captain Olivia Temm.

Ken Douglas will play the Last Post on his bugle before the Ode to the Fallen is read out by Henare Macown and Bryce Morrison in te reo Maori and English respectively.

After the laying of the wreaths, music will be performed by City of Rotorua Highland Pipe Band, Evelyn Falconer, Rotorua Brass and Western Heights High School Band.

There will be a free bus travelling from the start of the parade in Memorial Drive to the Civic Service, departing at 9am for those requiring transport.

Rotorua RSA president Bryce Morrison was expecting a larger crowd this year, because it was the centenary year of the Armistice.

"We suspect it will be bigger than past years, but the cold snap could have an impact on that."

From 10am to 2pm on Anzac Day the team from Rotorua Museum will be based at The Arts Village for a free activity.

Harakeke (flax) crosses will be made to contribute to the Delores Cross Project.

The initiative began in April 2008 with the aim of paying tribute to about 30,000 New Zealand military personnel buried on foreign soil with a hand-made Dolores Cross.

Families will also be able to weave the crosses at Rotorua Museum drop-in crafts in Te Runanga Tea House between 10am and 3pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday on the week of Anzac Day.

The Art of Remembering - Te Pu o Mahara exhibition will showcase winners and finalist entries by Rotorua art students who were tasked with creating visual art based on the story of a Rotorua person who served in the Great War.

The exhibition of about 30 works will be on display at the Arts Village from April 21 until May 26.