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Last modified: 04 May 2022 3:32pm

Children, adults, a man in a Hawaiian shirt and goggles and a person in a t-rex costume shying away from an exploding drum of water and coloured ping pong balls

Explosions, fire and a dinosaur delighted a packed house of hundreds in a highlight of the Council's holiday programmes.

Experienced science communicator Amadeo Ballestero wowed around 500 people, mainly children at the Rolleston Community Centre with his first Canterbury Explosive Science show.

Mr Ballestero recently moved to Canterbury after 20 years in Science Outreach with the Otago Museum, where his shows were hugely popular across the lower South Island, combining explosions, fire, sound and more to share his passion of science with young audiences.

His popularity has spread to Canterbury with the first 300 tickets for the Selwyn show being snapped up in minutes, Rolleston Community Centre Manager Oana Jones says.

The show lived up to expectations, with experiments using hydrogen and helium balloons, dry ice, explosions and a burning Rubens Tube demonstrating the movement of sound waves.

“It was good to see how quickly people embraced the idea. Everyone seemed to have a great time and we got really good feedback. We’re already planning another show for the next school holidays and considering a supervised holiday programme.”

The show was part of a busy holiday calendar of events across the district at Selwyn Libraries, Community and Recreation Centres. Activities included technology and craft events, author book readings, the Christchurch Walking Festival and even a visit from the furry friends from Southern Huskies New Zealand.

The libraries Edge Connector vehicle ran a full programme visiting communities most distant from the Selwyn Libraries, bringing books, technology kits and craft events. While, the Selwyn Sports Centre hosted its second holiday programme with 24 young people enjoying an active week of sports, activities and outings.