The Railway Reserve was lit up with LEDs, neon and home-made lanterns last Wednesday night for the Matariki Lantern Parade.
Over a thousand people met at the Victory Community Centre to celebrate the Māori new year with a parade, performances and a hangi. However, the parade was darkened after a number of spot lights and props were nabbed during the celebrations.
“The hours, goodwill and expense our dedicated outdoor crews put into this event is obviously hard for a select few in our community to appreciate,” says event manager Nicola Baré.
“Please, when you are out and about this weekend and come across a wandering jellyfish, wooden Matariki stars, colour changing garden lights or commercial spot lights, please drop them into the centre next week. Without it, Matariki 2017 will be very dark.”
Despite the thefts, Nicola says the celebrations were amazing.
“It was definitely the biggest and brightest Matariki night yet, I’ve heard nothing but good things from the community and everyone had a good night.”
The twisty twins, community groups and several other acts lit up the Railway Reserve parade for locals who showed up in force to enjoy the entertainment, lights, neon zone and traditional kai. While the annual lantern parade was a major draw card, Nicola says the hangi, was by far, one of the crowd favourites.
“We managed to feed record numbers with the hangi, we served out around a thousand plates and had a lot of people coming just for the hangi.”
