31 December

Five community celebrations took place across the city this evening to welcome in the new year.

The celebrations brought the community together with live music, roving entertainment, activities, and local MCs to host. Events ended with a colourful display of fireworks at 9.30pm, except for Greerton which had a light show.

A new addition to the celebrations was cultural performances, with Filipino, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Indian, Cambodian and Pacific Island dance groups and individuals taking to the stage.

The performances were part of a new collaboration between Multicultural Tauranga and Council, designed to make the events more inclusive.

In Matua, an earlier event with limited noise and crowds took place for those with sensory sensitivities and/or accessibility requirements.

The events are part of Council’s work to promote a safer new year and to offer a way for everyone to celebrate locally in a community-minded, family-friendly environment.

For more events visit My Tauranga.

Incident at Matua community celebration
This evening there was an incident with a bouncy castle at Fergusson Park’s New Year’s Eve community celebration in Matua. One person was taken to hospital and four people were treated by medical staff on site.

As a precaution, all inflatable devices were closed at all the community events as soon as Council were notified of the incident.

Worksafe NZ was notified, and Council is undertaking its own investigation.

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