Record crowds turn out for the 77th Farmers Santa Parade

Santa Claus came to town today and his sleigh ride through the streets of Auckland city was simply the highlight of another amazing Farmers Santa Parade.

For the 77th year, the parade wowed the crowd with a spectacular display of float and costume sets, giant helium-filled balloons and a huge number of entertainers.

Chairman of the Auckland Children’s Christmas Parade Trust Michael Barnett is delighted with this year’s parade.

“The parade this year was simply remarkable - bigger and better than ever thanks to the huge support given by our generous sponsors and around 4000 volunteers. Without their support the Farmers Santa Parade would not be the world-class event that it is,” says Mr Barnett.

Farmers Managing Director Rod McDermott agrees. “The parade was an incredible spectacle; it gives us huge amounts of pride to see the joy it brings to thousands of children every year. Thank you Auckland, for making the event one of the city’s annual highlights.”

Leading the 2010 parade in her role as Grand Marshal was Silver Fern Temepara George, part of the 2010 gold-winning team at this year’s Commonwealth Games.

Volunteers from the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation (LBF) were out and about before the Parade, collecting donations to help improve the quality of life for patients and their families living with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and related blood conditions.

"It's such a fun day to be a part of and we are very thankful to the Auckland public for their generosity this Christmas," says Pru Etcheverry, Executive Director of the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation.

Santa’s Party in the refurbished Aotea Square following the parade was also a great success. This year there was also a minute’s silence for the 29 men lost in the Pike River mining disaster, a mark of respect organisers felt important to include in the family event.

“The whole of New Zealand is feeling for the families who have lost loved ones in this tragedy and we wanted to remember those men today and pay respect to their loved ones who have endured so much,” says Mr Barnett.

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