Americarna a roaring success in Stratford, says event director

Event director John Rae, with his grandson Lockie Roache, says Stratford put on a great show for Americarna visitors.

"I take my hat off to the Stratford District Council and Stratford Business Association for the brilliant day they have put on."

John Rae, event director of Americarna, says he was really pleased with the morning the cars and drivers spent in Stratford on Friday.

"The entertainment is awesome, a really good atmosphere here. It's great to see and be part of."

John says around 880 cars registered for this year's Americarna event, and he thought around 800 of them were in Stratford on Friday morning.

John and his grandson Lockie Roache, 9, were enjoying looking around the cars and taking in the street entertainment while the cars were parked in Stratford for a couple of hours.

Lochie said he liked seeing all the different cars, but a personal favourite was the ACR Extreme Viper he had seen.

While people of all ages enjoyed getting a close look at the cars on display, children were also entertained with a variety of free activities, including ride-on cars, balloon animals and stilt walkers.

Another popular attraction on the day was the chance to go up inside the glockenspiel for a gold coin donation. Mary and Keith Thomson, from Hāwera, took the opportunity and said they were thrilled to explore the glockenspiel.

"We drive past it all the time, and often stop and watch the performance but never have we seen inside it before. It's fascinating really, all the work which has gone into the tower and the figures."

Mary said she hoped it would be open to the public more often so she could bring their grandchildren next time.

"Of course, they would have enjoyed seeing all the cars as well today, if we had realised how much stuff there would be for the little ones we would definitely have brought them with us. They'd get more out of all this today than a day at school!"

When the cars left Stratford, they headed on to Hāwera where some participated in the street drags.