Entertainment line up for Hawkes Bay Christmas at the Park

2016 entertainment line up for Hawkes Bay Christmas at the Park

Avalanche City is the headline performer at the 2016 Hawkes Bay Christmas at the Park, to be held at the Hastings A & P Showgrounds on Saturday 17 December. Otherwise known as folk singer Dave Baxter, Avalanche City is best known for the 2011 single Love, Love, Love and 2015 single Inside Out, which also charted at No. 1. In 2011, Dave Baxter was awarded the APRA Silver Scroll and nominated for three New Zealand Music Awards, including Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year.

Also featuring this year will be Christchurch band nomad. Aasha Mallard, Will McGillivray and Cullen Kiesanowski formed a band at school when they were just 15 and their differing musical tastes collide to shape their alt-pop/folk sound. They have been winning over unsuspecting audiences show by show and made their musical mark on the charts this year with their massive single ‘Oh My My’. They have just been announced as finalists for ‘Breakthrough Artist’ at the Vodafone Music Awards and their summer is filling up with outdoor shows and Festivals up and down the country.

“We have a great line up of entertainment at this year’s event. We’ll also have local bands and of course, the very popular carols set by the Christmas at the Park Carols Band,” says event organizer David Trim.

Also appearing will be local talent Critical Theory, who won the Smokefree HB Rockquest in June this year. The area five piece band from Napier Boys High School. Local covers band Groove Foundation will also feature in the line up.

New to the event this year will be fairground rides. While entering the concert is free, the fairground rides will have fees. The free children’s obstacle course and face painting add to the children’s entertainment.

“Christmas at the Park will finish at 9:30pm with the usual signature fireworks display. This is perfect timing to then stroll next door and experience the Fiesta of Lights at the Showgrounds. Between carnival rides, the Christmas concert and Fiesta of Lights, this is certainly going to be an incredible night of fun,” says David.

Christmas at the Park has evolved so successfully over the past 16 years that it will now be known as “Hawkes Bay Christmas at the Park”. The event will now alternate between venues in Hastings and Napier each year. In 2016, the event will take place at the A & P Showgrounds in Hastings. The following year, it will take place at McLean Park in Napier.

“This is a not for profit, privately-organised event. It relies primarily on funding trusts and business sponsors to survive. We are so grateful to our financial backers who continue to support us every year in creating a true community event for Hawkes Bay, and we look forward to this new era for Hawkes Bay Christmas at the Park,” says David.

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