The Rotorua Christmas Parade as it passed under the Princess Gate archway.
The Rotorua Christmas Parade as it passed under the Princess Gate archway.
Rotorua's community came together to celebrate the festive season during the annual Christmas Parade in the town centre on Sunday.
The annual Christmas event nearly did not happen this year due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic but thanks to an anonymous donor the parade was able to goahead.
The parade is run by a charitable trust which relies on donations and sponsorship.
Event director and organiser Alia Branson said she was "completely blown away" by what everyone was able to achieve in such a short space of time.
"The quality of the floats was amazing. I think we did really well in getting 30 groups including some who walked or danced their way along the parade route involved.
"I think people put a lot of time and effort into creating, building and decorating their floats and it was just so cool and amazing to see the crowd's reaction.
"It just shows how hungry people are to celebrate and get into the Christmas spirit particularly after such a tough and challenging year. "
Branson said the message of this year's parade was about bringing the community together and keeping the tradition alive.
Branson said she wanted to say a big thank you to the anonymous donor and also to all those who worked behind the scenes to make the parade happen.
The Hits local presenter Paul Hickey said it was a beautiful day and there was a great turnout as the community came together to celebrate the festive season.
Snoopy (inside Globe) from the Peanuts Movie gets a great reaction from the crowd.
"The floats were outstanding and there was some amazing creativity. There was definitely a bigger turnout than last year as people packed the parade route."
Hickey said the weather was really hot but it didn't matter as the crowd "soaked it all up" which created a "nice little festive" atmosphere and left people with "warm fuzzies".
One of Santa's elves was getting into the festive spirit at the Rotorua Christmas Parade.
"It just shows the resilience of our community who pulled together to ensure the tradition of holding the annual Christmas parade is kept alive and well," he said.
The Hits Shield Award for the champion float went to Central City Quality Educare and Douglas Engineering who joined forces to create a two-storey "magnificent" Pirate Ship.
Triple One Towing received the Best Display of Christmas Spirit Award for their North Pole float and AMJAZZ Dance Studios won the Best Walking Group, dressing up as angels and snowmen based on the characters from the movie Frozen.
