Don Neale, as his "mischievous pirate" alter ego, the Red Moki from Hoki, stood by a festive Hokitika town entrance sign today.
Mr Neale said the Christmas-themed "Ho Ho" was added to the Weld St sign under darkness on Wednesday night with the help of "elves".
The guerrilla art stunt follows on from another catchy play on the town's name in 2006 when Mr Neale convinced the Westland District Council to change it to "Hockeytika" for a day as part of the West Coast Hockey centennial celebrations.
"That spurred me to think that it would be a good idea for the council to change the name of the town to Ho-Ho-Hokitika for Christmas Day this year."
He contacted the council with the request ahead of next week's meeting.
