Toni Street is a Xmas “nut” & sees the parade as a season opener.

Christmas is not a day, it’s a season for radio host Toni Street — and one of the big signs that the season is under way is the annual Farmers Santa Parade.

Not that Street will wait until parade day on November 26 to get into the Christmas spirit. A self-confessed ‘Christmas-aholic’, she likes to start early and go the whole hog.

“After years and years of being a Christmas nut myself — and my mum was as well — I have a lot of ideas for making it really fun,” she says. “The biggest part for me is to not think of it as a few days — Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day — but as a season, that starts well before the big day. If you think of it that way, you’re going to get a lot more out of it, rather than having it just come and go and be a bit of a let-down.”

One essential Christmas tradition, and a great way to get into the festive spirit, is the Farmers Santa Parade, which has been bringing its special magic to downtown Auckland for 90 years.

“For a lot of people, it marks the start of the Christmas season — once the parade gets under way, Christmas is on,” she says. “I grew up in New Plymouth and the Santa Parade was massive there — everyone went to it. Those were the days when they still had lolly scrambles and that would be one of my fondest memories of it, scrabbling on the road for a Mintie.”

She also recalls being lucky enough to appear in the parade, on a float built by her father and a group of other dads, sitting on a green dragon dressed as a princess. Street has also featured in the Auckland parade as part of her broadcasting job, taking her kids along for an unforgettable ride through the CBD in front of the cheering crowd.

Street and her family have also been keen spectators, taking the ferry across from the North Shore to avoid having to find a park city-side, then securing a prime position where the parade turns the corner from Queen into Customs Street.

“You get to see the entire parade from there,” she says. “It’s also a great place to catch up with people — if I get there and don’t meet someone I know, I’ll be very surprised.”

Street’s favourite aspects of the parade are the marching bands and dance-school troupes, and she has her fingers crossed for something special this year.

“Often the parade will follow trends, and what’s hot at the moment? There is nothing bigger than Barbie right now, so I’m hoping for a Barbie float or at least a nod to Barbie.”

That remains to be seen, but the parade will definitely feature an Elf on the Shelf float, a pirate ship float and a Kiwiana combo, complete with a flock of twenty kids dressed as sheep being controlled by a naughty sheepdog, followed by a conga-line of marching kiwifruit, Pasifika elves, Buzzy Bees, tui, eels on scooters and walking tomato sauce. Another float will be a tribute to emergency services and the work they have done this year, and the pre-parade collection will raise funds for Surf Lifesaving New Zealand.

Parade aside, Street’s enthusiasm for Christmas starts in early November, with the festive festooning beginning as soon as the Halloween decorations come down.

“As soon as we hit November, the decorations go up — and in my house there are many,” she says. “We have garlands across the mantelpiece, a pretend mounted reindeer head, and inflatable decorations outside.”

The Christmas trees don’t go up until December 1 but, yes, that’s trees plural: a real pine tree for its special aroma, and an artificial one which she decorates in a white and gold theme — “the pretty one, for me”.

“People who only put their tree up for three days before Christmas I do not understand,” she says. “It takes a lot of time and effort, then you’ve just got to take it down again.”

Part of her decorating tradition is taking her children to Farmers to each pick a new ornament every year. “They have a great selection, and each of my kids has a different personality, so I enjoy seeing what they pick,” she says. “Farmers also has a great range of Christmas t-shirts, and we usually get something for the kids to wear for their Christmas concert or the last day of school.”

Street says the last few years of Covid restrictions have really brought home how important it is to get together and celebrate while we can.

“Now we’ve seen what it’s like to miss out on the social side of Christmas, we know it’s just not the same if you can’t get out and about and experience the Christmas vibe,” she says. “It’s time to get out there and get back on the wagon.”