Parade entries impress

Residents from Marire Rest Home joined in the Christmas parade, including 108 year old Linda Wiggins.

The sun came out just in time for the Stratford Christmas Parade on Sunday.

"We are delighted the sun joined our parade, but even if the sky had stayed gray, the day would have been bright and beautiful with all the colourful floats which came out on the day," says Stratford Business Association chairman Peter Dalziel.

This year's theme was 'A Storybook Christmas' and Peter says he was impressed with the ingenuity and imagination which went into the floats.

"It was great to see the range of groups and businesses who entered this year, and the crowd watching were kept well entertained throughout."

There were notably less floats than in previous years, adds Peter.

"We tried the Sunday afternoon time as a trial, and last year we trialled a Saturday. While both received positive feedback from people coming to watch the parade, we have now decided to move the parade back to the Friday evening in early December."

An advantage of this, he says, is that the parade will help the town officially launch the Christmas season. "When the parade ends next year, people will be able to go to Prospero Place and see the Stratford Christmas tree officially lit for the first time in the season."

Peter says he was pleased to see some shops decided to open to give shoppers the opportunity to get some Christmas shopping done on the day, and the market stalls in Prospero Place also added to the atmosphere.

Residents from Marire Rest Home joined in the Christmas parade, including 108 year old Linda Wiggins.

"With Santa's Cave opening before the parade as well as the markets, people really did get to enjoy a great day out. It was brilliant to see the sandpit in Prospero Place being enjoyed by some of the younger residents, while the Christmas tree and the adjacent photo stand are sure to be featuring in plenty of photos being shared on social media over the next few days if the number of people posing for photos with them are anything to go by," he says.

Watching the parade with her two grandchildren, Lorraine Ainsworth of Hawera said it had topped off "a great day out in Stratford". They had got there early to make sure they had chance to talk to Santa. "And it was great, we didn't have to queue for long and could take our own photos, it makes it an affordable treat for the littlies and gets you in the spirit of Christmas."

Lorraine wouldn't be drawn on which tree is better, but did say she liked the sandpit by the Stratford tree.