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The jolly man in red will be making an extra call in our region in December for a new community Santa Parade through the streets of Mangawhai Heads.
More than 20 floats have already committed to the new event, which will take place on the morning of Sunday, December 16.
Organiser John Phillis decided to organise a parade after experiencing first-hand local youngsters’ enthusiasm for a chance to meet Santa a year ago.
“Last year, Santa called in and so I stuck him on the back of a ute and took him down to the Mangawhai Activity Zone (MAZ),” he says. “We had 50 kids descend on us, so I decided we’ve got to do this bigger and better and run a proper Santa Claus parade this year.”
Floats will assemble in the Alamar reserve car park at the bottom of North Avenue at 9.30am for judging by Kaipara District Council Mayor Dr Jason Smith at 10am.
Once the prizes have been awarded, the parade will move off at 10.30am along Robert Street, up Wood Street and down Molesworth Drive to assemble in the bottom field at MAZ.
Once there, Santa will take his place in a special marquee to meet local fans and have his photo taken.
There will also be a bouncy castle, face painting, a sausage sizzle and live music.
John says there has been a great response from local businesses, organisations and community groups.
“We’ve got the City of Manukau Pipes & Drums coming up, and we’ve had support from all the services – police, fire, St John, the community patrol and Blue Light.”
He says there is still time to enter the parade, with a float, another vehicle, or even on a cycle or walking. For full details, call John on 021 339 329 or 09 134 4850.
