Family movie adds to parade

A family Christmas movie will be screened on the Village Green following this year's Rotorua Christmas Parade, which will be at a later time and follow a shorter route than in previous years.

Rotorua Christmas parade co-ordinator Peter Woodward said the committee wanted to make the parade more festive and add to the family atmosphere of the event, which takes place on Saturday, December 5.

"The Christmas parade is seen as the start of the Christmas season so we wanted to make it more of a celebration about Christmas to help people get into the Christmas spirit," he said.

"We want to present something to Rotorua that truly adds to the festive nature of the parade.

"We added a family movie to start at 7pm to make it more of a family affair."

The parade route has changed.

Mr Woodward said the Rotorua Christmas Parade Charitable Trust was running a poll on its Facebook page to decide the movie to be shown.

Members of the public can vote by going to the page and leaving comments regarding their choice.

"It must be family-friendly and have a Christmas theme," he said. "We want to encourage families to come to the Village Green, sit and watch the movie and share in the festive spirit."

Mr Woodward said due to feedback from business owners and spectators, the 2015 parade will start at the later time of 4pm and follow a new shortened route along Arawa, Amohia, Pukuatua and Fenton streets, finishing at the Village Green.

"We found that the previous year's parade conflicted with Saturday morning activities such as kids' sport," Mr Woodward said. "It was also very hot last year and we hope changing it to a later start time of 4pm will hopefully mean it is a little bit cooler."

-Registrations are open now for float entries at www.christmasparade.co.nz.