Covid 19 coronavirus: No Tauranga Christmas Parade this year, art festival instead

Santa at Tauranga Christmas Parade in 2019. Photo / File

This year's Tauranga Trustpower Christmas Parade has been cancelled due to Covid-19 alert level uncertainty.

Instead, the city will host a new Christmas art festival featuring a major light installation and community performances.

Mainstreet Tauranga spokesperson Sally Cooke said the reformatted Christmas event would allow Mainstreet Tauranga, Trustpower and the Tauranga City Council to deliver a significant Christmas event in the city centre with certainty.

"With so many events being cancelled globally due to Covid-19 and alert level changes, 2020 is an unprecedented year to be staging events."

Cooke said the annual Trustpower Christmas Parade can only be staged under level 1 conditions, which posed a "significant risk in these uncertain times".

"It takes thousands of man-hours, brings between 25 to 30,000 people into the city centre for the morning of the event and involves over 800 participants and volunteers.

"Our concern was that if we had continued with parade planning and then had to cancel several days out, if alert levels changed, there would have been a significant loss and waste of time and resources.

"Other cities are following a similar decision path with their parades, so we felt it [was] vital we make a decision in the best interests of our community. This way we can still provide a community event that will be significant for the city."

She said the new initiative could be staged at all alert levels and would be in the city centre for six weeks.

But Mainstreet Tauranga and Trustpower remained tight-lipped around the exact nature of the light installation.

"We wish to surprise and delight the community when they see it come to life. What we can say is that it features some dynamic light installations that have appeared at the Sydney Vivid Light festival in other major cities across New Zealand."

Trustpower community and communications advisor Ashleigh Cleaver said: "While it is sad the parade can't go ahead, it is exciting to have room to try something new this year."

Trustpower Toi Tauranga will launch the last week of November in the city centre.