It is nearing the time of the year again when Santa Claus gets ready to reign over his parade in Timaru.
The annual PrimePort Timaru Santa Parade will be held on Sunday, December 7, and is set to follow the same route as previous years.
The parade will travel along Stafford St, down the loop road and on to Caroline Bay.
Organiser Teressa May said 32 floats were registered so far but they were still on the hunt for more.
‘‘A few more would be really good. Last year we had 52, plus Santa, but I’d love to see at least 70 this year.
‘‘We are also on the lookout for some more mascots. We have about 20 to fill, so we’d love to have some volunteers help out with that as well.’’
She said the parade was still a very important end-of-year tradition for Timaru.
‘‘We had a meeting with the mayor in March and sort of said, ‘are we going to be still doing the Santa Parade, or are you not wanting a Santa Parade?’ Because there was all these vague discussions around funding and whatnot.
‘‘Obviously, to have a parade, you’ve still got costs, you have to pay for some entertainment — not for it all because we’ve got an amazing community that come on board, but you still have costs.
‘‘It is important for them to happen. It brings a bit of cheer because for some people, they might not have Christmas Day as we knew it with the big family, the big food and the big presents because either they’re working, not connecting with their families because they’re away, or they just can’t afford it.’’
Mrs May said the parade was simply about giving a bit of spirit and festivities back to the community
‘‘The weather is looking great, and there will be some amazing floats.’’
The parade will begin at 2pm.
Anyone looking to volunteer or register a float can email [email protected] for more information.
