16 September 2016

A month of Christmas in Lower Hutt this year

Lower Hutt is the place to be this Christmas with a month of events planned to celebrate the festive season.

This year’s celebrations will build on the success of last year’s Pop-Up Carols with the addition of a large event in Dowse Square on Saturday 17 December.

Council’s City Promotions Manager Brad Monaghan says, “We had such an awesome response to last year’s carols across the city we’re doing it again this year. People loved the concept of bringing Christmas to the suburbs and having a series of events meant there was more than one option for busy families to choose from.

“This year we’re adding a larger-scale event to the CBD called Christmas in Dowse Square. It combines the magic of the old Christmas in the Park event with the spirit of a quintessential Kiwi summer Christmas.”

Christmas in Dowse Square will feature festive entertainment and activities from afternoon to evening including: sing-along carols, three pantomime sessions (written by Geraldine Brophy and Louise Proudfoot), roving circus acts and performances from local groups. A Kiwi summer Christmas will be celebrated with children being invited to decorate jandals as Christmas tree decorations, a giant sandpit to play in, and photo booths with kiwiana backgrounds. Roaming “selfie-elfies” will also be there to take photos and turn them into Christmas cards.

“We’re also adding something extra to our Pop-Up Carol series this year too. Each carol event will feature mini-pantomimes sure to get the little ones laughing,” says Mr Monaghan.

“In fact the Christmas line-up this year has something for everyone. Replacing the old Christmas in the Park event with this exciting line-up and spreading the cheer across the month gives more of our community an opportunity to join in. As a single outdoor event, Christmas in the Park was also highly weather dependent, so multiple events make our plans more resilient.

“Together with new Christmas flags across the city this year in different languages, December in Lower Hutt is the place for everyone to get into the Christmas spirit.”

Planning of the Christmas events are underway and confirmed dates, locations and other details will be available soon.

ENDS

© Scoop Media