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Christchurch Christmas parades
Smiths City Santa Parade
The parade today boasts over 80 floats, 3500 participants and hundreds of fantasy costumes, the website says, and is run by the Christchurch Children’s Christmas Parade Trust with representatives from the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, The Press, Farmers, Christchurch City Council, Canterbury Employer’s Chamber of Commerce, New Zealand Retailers Association, The Star and Smiths City.
Parade route
Starting on the Moorhouse Colombo corner near Smiths City, the parade travels up Colombo Street, through Cathedral Square and turns left into Kilmore Street, finishing near the Town Hall.
Christchurch has enjoyed Christmas parades since the 1930s when T. J. Armstrong & Co created floats for parades and an in-store Toyland for their High Street shop, situated where the CPIT Jazz School now stands. One parade even used an elephant (shown outside their Colombo Street outlet), a gimmick used elsewhere when the circus came to town.
In 2007, Christchurch celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of what was originally known as the Hay’s parade, The Smiths City Santa Parade. Other parades pre-dated it, but the Santa parade has stood the test of time and took place on December 2.
According to the official website, the Christchurch Santa parade was started by well-known retailer James Hay in 1947. His son, Sir Hamish Hay, in his autobiography, puts the year at 1948. Whatever the date, the Hay’s parade was a popular annual event for families, and the Hay’s retail store had a dedicated children's playground, Hay's Roof, for many years.
To celebrate this annual event, Christchurch City Libraries has launched a collection of newly-digitised collection of parade photos from 1978 and 1982. These images complement the libraries’ existing collection of Christmas photos and give an insight into the parades of the past.
A recent Press article gives details on the care of the floats in the parade, which are insured for more than $1million, and the activities of the volunteers behind it.
Aunt Haysl a children’s favourite
For many years the Hay’s Santa parade featured Aunt Hasyl. There were four Aunt Haysls, but the best-known, and last, was Edna Neville, who retired from the role in 1981.
- Read more about Edna Neville, the last Aunt Haysl.
- Christchurch City Libraries has an archive of Aunt Haysl material known as the Aunt Haysl papers, which were compiled by Edna Neville.
- See also newspaper articles about Aunt Haysl.
