Blue and yellow emergency car decorated in red tinsel and children waving in the background

Christmas has officially arrived in Selwyn, with Rolleston’s inaugural Christmas Parade on Sunday 1 December. And with more Christmas events on their way throughout December, including the always popular Lincoln Christmas Parade and Market on Saturday 14 December, Selwyn is in for some joyous times!

Did you know Lincoln’s first ever Christmas pageant took place in December of 1982?

According to the Lincoln & Districts Historical Society, this first pageant was super! Much like the parades today, members of local community groups dressed up, some as elves and clowns, and some with donkeys and llama. Pipe bands, dancers and marching teams paraded the streets alongside decorated floats, fire engines, traction engines and tractors. Lincoln children rode in on decorated bikes and trikes and the jolly man, Father Christmas made his grand appearance.

The Council took part in Rolleston’s Christmas Parade with Emergency Management volunteers and Stan the dog, promoting ‘Santa Gets Ready’, a campaign to educate Selwyn residents on emergency preparedness. Check out our Facebook page to see how Santa got ready for the parade.

If you could hear carols being sung throughout the land last week, you may have been listening to the Selwyn Carols hosted by Hope Presbyterian Church which took place in Foster Park last Saturday night.

And if you were wondering why High Street in Leeston was closed on Friday 6 December, it’s because everyone had to make way for Santa on his sleigh for Leeston’s annual Santa Parade.

To make these events happen, there’s a lot of work (and magic) put in behind the scenes.

And sometimes even these community elves need a helping hand from the Council’s Selwyn Community Fund to bring the Christmas magic to life.

For more on funding, visit selwyn.govt.nz/funding.

Santa on a float and children waving in background

Last modified: 09 Dec 2024 10:43am