"It was really great and what we Lions like to see is community involvement and making it a day for the kids.
"Clearly the weather was on our side and we had a very good turnout of floats. It's the best we've had in terms of good community involvement.
"It was pleasing to see a number of the entries involved children and community groups, like the squash club, rugby club and pony club and the Indian and Tongan communities."
Hopefully, the increase in entries is a sign that more and more groups are starting to get involved, Eddy said.
"I've already had some people say, 'gee we could do something next year.'"
After the grand parade, the floats assembled at Moore Park where the community enjoyed a Christmas Variety Concert, organised by Katch Katikati with a lineup of talented local entertainers.
The Little Entertainment Company was there with bouncy castles, pony rides and several children's activities, all for free and organised by the Lions. Being such a hot afternoon Mr Whippy was flat-out the whole afternoon.
Katch Katikati's Jacqui Knight said it was another successful event.
"The weather was great and there was a good crowd at the concert, where we had local younger performers, who had been practising hard.
"And Santa and his lolly scramble is always a treat for the children."
Knight said she had lots of positive comments about the standard of the floats this year.
