And for the 29th time, since the very first modest Art Deco "weekend", the city will appear to slip into the past for five days next week - like a scene from the film Brigadoon where the past descends briefly.
It has come a long way, a very long way, since the first modest Art Deco Weekend staged in 1989 - the year the Historic Places Trust upgraded more of the central city's building classifications and (no surprises here) it was the year of local body elections and all the potential councillors declared their support for the preservation and upgrading of Art Deco.
It actually all went back to 1981 when Barry Marshall, district architect for the then Ministry of Works, was so inspired by what he saw across Napier's CBD landscape he persuaded the ministry to fund a book about it.
The following year The Art Deco Architecture of Napier written by Heather Ives and photographed by James White was published.
In 1984 noted writer and historian Peter Wells filmed Newest City on the Globe for TVNZ and the following year a group of passionately deco people put their heads together and formed the Art Deco Group which began promoting Art Deco walks.
The group incorporated as the Art Deco Trust in 1987 and everything just grew from there.
With strong council involvement a string of inner city buildings were upgraded and restored, although some buildings had sadly come down.
It was not until 1997, with the demolition of the old Gospel Hall church in Carlyle St, that the losses were halted.
Today the city is a globally celebrated architectural landscape and on pretty well every day of the year you will spot someone photographing a building - a building that 35 years ago very few people would have taken any notice of.
The unique lure and seduction of all things Art Deco is now celebrated in what has simply become a massive festival, and the 2017 outing will likely be the biggest yet.
Through the music, the fashion, the food, the art, the cars and the fun, the city landscape will slide back to the 1920s and '30s and the charm of that era will be embraced.
Last year's festival drew an estimated 40,000 people and going by ticket sales, and increasing "sold out" signs, for this year's festival, it will likely draw more people.
As Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said: "It just gets bigger and brighter every year."
He said it was no longer simply a significant event on the New Zealand calendar.
"This is now a significant event on the international calendar - the beauty of it is that it is right in the centre of the city - it celebrates the city and showcases it very well."
The festival's contribution to the region's economy was, unsurprisingly, substantial.
The number of overseas visitors had grown along with the scale of the festival.
For the third event running Merrill J Fernando, the founder of Dilmah teas, will return with his family and will host the popular Dilmah High Tea Affair and two new events, the Dilmah Tea Lounge and Bar and the Dilmah Gatsby Tea Dance.
He is passionate about the festival, as are his sons.
"I don't know how you do this," Malik Fernando asked quizzically during last year's big event.
He had been watching the soap box derby and his attention had also been grabbed by a nearby steam engine, a couple of Tiger Moths flying overhead, a fleet of vintage cars all lined up nearby and so many people, across several generations, dressed in a style gone by ... gone but certainly not forgotten.
"It is so special ... I've never seen anything like this anywhere else," he said with a widening grin.
The spread of events has widened in the sense that there are specific outings aimed at young people and families, and as evidenced by past festivals the young are becoming increasingly involved.
And not just the little kiddies in their cute outfits. Teenagers are also becoming more and more involved.
Among the new events on the schedule is the Deco Kids Capers Show next Thursday under the Tremains Marquee on Marine Parade.
It is a crazy stage and sort of circus show where 5 to 12-year-olds can get involved.
And the Dry Boat Racing, the Paint the Poster and the Big Deco Beach Dig Treasure Hunt.
Plus the traditional and crowd-drawing Soap Box Derby where the kids and their families (the push-starters) race their masterpieces on wheels down Tennyson St on Sunday morning.
Since day one the derby has been organised by the Rotary Club of Ahuriri Sunrise and the tireless volunteers ensure all goes very well, and very spectacularly.
Festival director Glen Pickering said the whole festival had grown to the point where it needed careful strategy and direction.
He said one of the strengths of such festivals was the support of the community and he had focused on getting locals involved more, as well as how to get younger people involved.
He said the schedule of events and their staging had been polished to make them more entertaining and refreshing.
This year's programme has been broken into sections - Feature Events, Talks, Walks and Tours, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Fashion, Film and Art, Dine, Drink and Dance, Outdoor Street Events, Family and Youth and General Events.
The familiar favourites are all there, some with minor tweaking, and as it has been for many years now the navy is a centrepiece with two ships due to arrive, along with the much-acclaimed Royal New Zealand Navy Band - which all fits in nicely because it is the 75th anniversary of the Royal New Zealand Navy.
● Check it all out on festival@artdeconapier.com and www.facebook.com/artdecotrust