Friday 20 December 2013

Stay up past your bedtime on New Year's Eve

Farewell 2013 in style and welcome 2014 with a bang, as Christchurch’s New Year’s Eve celebrations return to North Hagley Park, from 6.30pm on Tuesday 31 December.

The alcohol-free fun starts with family-friendly entertainment from 6.30pm until the “Juniors’ Midnight” early countdown at 8.30pm. This is followed by local band The Easy Hearts with their unique brand of blues-infused rock and roll and passion for playing live. The New Zealand Army Band are next, ushering in a year that will see them celebrate their 50th anniversary and breaking out the Gangnam Style moves that have garnered them international attention.

As the clock strikes 12, Hagley Park will light up with a spectacular fireworks display and a hearty crowd performance of Auld Lang Syne, before the celebrations wind up at 12.30am.

Christchurch City Council Events Production Team Manager Chloë Dear says the annual event is the perfect excuse for Christchurch to stay up past its bedtime.

“We’re expecting our New Year’s Eve party to attract about 10,000 revellers to join us as we – quite literally – welcome 2014 with a bang. We’re not just ringing in the new year – this event also heralds the official arrival of our Garden City SummerTimes season of free events that make full use of our beautiful outdoor spaces like Hagley Park. As ever, there’s an event to suit everyone this summer.”

All the main SummerTimes events are back to ease people into 2014 with details atwww.summertimes.co.nz and in the official programme available from Council service centres and libraries.

Parking for New Year’s Eve will be available on the Carlton Mill soccer field off Harper Avenue for a $3 donation. If coming by bus, please check your travel plans as no buses will run after midnight.

ENDS

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