Waitomo District Council has made the difficult decision to cancel the Waitomo District Christmas Parade for 2021.

WDC Manager Community Development Clowdy Ngatai says due to numerous uncertainties at the present time around the COVID pandemic and related restrictions, the health, safety and well-being of all involved was the key consideration to the decision.

“We realise this is disappointing for many sectors of our community, but we felt it was better to err on the side of caution than to forge ahead while there were still many unknowns about alert level restrictions,” says Clowdy.

“It would have been disappointing for our schools and community groups to put a lot of effort in to creating a float, only to have the parade cancelled closer to the time due to COVID restrictions.”

Traditionally, the Christmas Parade is a great opportunity to bring the community together and create some joy among tamariki and whanau as we head into the festive season.

WDC is looking into other opportunities to help bring the Christmas spirit to the district.