Hastings Blossom Parade looks to past for the future

1 August 2013

Hastings Blossom Parade looks to past for the future

This year’s Blossom Parade on Saturday 14 September will be taking a new route through the streets of Hastings and will, as in days gone by, have princesses and a Blossom Queen nestled within the floral floats.

The Blossom Parade will kick off at 1.30pm and for two hours wend its way up Warren Street, along Queen Street to Nelson Street and then up two blocks of Heretaunga Street West before heading a short block down Market Street, onto Eastbourne Street to cross the railway line, and ending in Russell Street beside Civic Square.

In addition to the new route, which will take its audience into the heart of the city’s retail area, Blossom Festival organisers are encouraging parade participants to give their floats more flowers to strengthen the blossom and spring theme.

“In its heyday, the Blossom Festival was a celebration of Hastings as the Fruitbowl of New Zealand. Hastings is still very much a community based around primary produce, fruit harvesting and production. We want the parade to be more a celebration of the spring and the beginning of the fruit season than it has been in recent times,” says organiser Carol-Ann Stubbs.

“We think it’s important to reconnect with the fact that Hastings’ economy is still very much connected to the land and we are still New Zealand’s largest pipfruit growing province and one of the largest in all other areas of primary production,” says Ms Stubbs.

“We want the parade to celebrate that many of our multi-culture community are involved in the seasonal cycle and employment that brings.”

Organisers are also looking to the past to add more glamour to the event. The call has gone out for young women to become ambassadors for their city. The Blossom Festival Queen was last crowned in 1973. This year young women between 17 and 25 years are invited to enter and all will be incorporated into parade floats.

A prize package is yet to be revealed and the Queen will be crowed at a Festival dance on Saturday 7 September.

The Blossom Festival programme is being compiled and includes concerts, library activities, competitions and a market on Saturday morning of the parade.

Float entry details, Blossom Queen entry forms, route map and other details can be found at www.visithastings.co.nz

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ENDS

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