Colleen Gunn wore her special black and white scarf patterned with musical notes, especially for the Tauranga National Jazz Festival.
The Tauranga resident paired her scarf with a lovely red hat that stood out from the crowds at the Downtown Carnival on The Strand.
Gunn said she visited New Orleans in 2012 and bought back her musical note scarf as a memento.
“It is special to me. Jazz has been a great part of my life.”
Gunn and her good friend John Rowlandson have made sure to see many events on the jazz calendar, including Piping Hot Dixie, Unforgettable - The Nat King Cole Story, the Michal Martyniuk trio with Dixon Nacey, and the Tauranga Big Band showcase.
“I just love jazz,” Gunn said. “I have lived in Tauranga for seven years and this is really the first time I have been able to enjoy the festival fully. It is just marvelous, it has got a wonderful feel to it.”
On Saturday, the friends arrived an hour before the carnival started for a spot of brunch before the jazz.
Rowlandson said had enjoyed the music thoroughly.
“I just love all of the music. The jazz has been fantastic.”
Katikati musicians Jacquie and Peter Faulkner had been coming to the jazz festival for the last 10 years and loved every minute of it.
The pair enjoyed the Katikati Street Party last weekend and finished off a week of jazz at the Downtown Carnival.
“That was really worthwhile.”
Peter said they liked to find new music they had not heard before. “It is a good opportunity to hear new music all in one place.”
The Fairhead-Morse family Adam and Morgan, with their sons Maxi, 4, and Felix, 6, had arrived from Hamilton for the weekend.
Morgan Fairhead-Morse said they had come for an Easter event at a local school in Te Puna and were splitting their time between that and the jazz festival.
They did not have a band in mind that they wanted to see but said “Whatever we find, we will enjoy whatever the artists have to offer”.
The Inglis family Nicole, David and their children Solomon, 4, Kowhai, 7, and Seth, 5, were also enjoying the jazz.
“We love music and dance in our family,” Nicole Inglis said. “We love singing and dancing at home so it was a good opportunity to see some live music.”
Connie and Paris Takarangi had travelled from Taupō to enjoy the jazz for the weekend.
Nineteen-year-old Paris, who played the drums, wanted to see Stan Bicknell from The New Caledonia jazz rock band and Connie was ready to dance.
“We wanted to immerse ourselves in jazz.”
Gate Pa resident Richard Goodall said he was “here to enjoy the jazz”.
The 83-year-old said he was most impressed with the Māori jazz music featured in the festival programme.
“Our Māori jazz musicians are very talented.”
Some of the churches have suffered significant damage, fire teams say.