CENTENNIAL OF OTAGO

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25306, 4 October 1947, Page 10

CENTENNIAL OF OTAGO

FIREWORKS TO END CARNIVAL MANY EVENTS NEXT YEAR From Our Own Reporter DUNEDIN, Oct. 3. I Although during the whole of 1948 there will be a series of events in Otago’s centennial, the main centennial i carnival will be held from February 23 to February 28. the week concluding with the greatest fireworks display ever planned in the Southern Hemisphere. The principal of a famous British firm of pyrotechnic makers is bringing a technical staff to Dunedin to stage the display on a firing s.te measuring 200 yards long by 100 yards wide. The fireworks display will probably be given at Logan Park or on the foreshore at Tahuna Park. Altogether, 116 displays are projected. beginning with a “barrage of 10 maroons, bursting at a great height with loud detonations,” announcing me opening of the display, and ending with a “grand girandole, a final-flight of 300 special rockets, producing a magnificent effect of pyrotechnic splendour.” “The Pride of Dunedin” will be produced by a big shell. 52 inches in circumference. and another feature will be “The Star of New Zealand,” a spectacular set liece carried out in lines of multicoloured fire, of the arrival of the Philip Laing at Port Chalmers on April 15, 1848, and the John Wickliffe at anchor. Two big shells, each 40 inches round, will be the salvo in the “Spirit of Otago,” while the Sutherland Falls will be reproduced by “an immense torrent of fire,” with a width of 200 feet and falling from a great heignt and “showering silver spray in all directions.”

A bewildering list of fireworks displays has been arranged, including “a shower of showflakes." “the plumage o£ the Kingfisher,” “batteries of jeweltieaded cobra,” “the silver aurora,” “batteries of missing serpents,” “showers of primroses and violets,” “batteries of whirling snakes,” “the luminous phantom,” “mystic rainbows.” “demon detonations,” and a reproduction of the Battle of Matapan—to give only a few. £2OOO Cost All will depend on the weather. If the night is wet, postponement will be inevitable: but the residents of Dunedin are looking forward to a noisy and brilliant night, to end a week of gaiety in which the calvacade of progress, in other words a procession, and a mardi gras will be the main attractions. For this display of fireworks, Dunedin has obtained a bargain at a cost of £2OOO. The centennial committee put out both hands tc accept the offer of the British firm for a few hours of brilliance and noise in the sky from months of preparation oi pyrotechnics, some weighing one ton. Whizz-bangs, sky-rockets and crackers, on which parents have spent a few shillings in recent months, will undoubtedly be scoffed at by Dunedin’s population after it sees this display. Cavalcade of Progress Arches of welcome will be built at the main highway entrances to Dunedin and a pylon of welcome will be erected outside the railway station. The streets and prominent buildings will be specially illuminated throughout the year and pylons and banners will add to the decorative gaiety It is under them that the mile and threequarter “cavalcade of progress” will make its way on February 24. Be-

tween 50 and 60 floats are designed to present all phases of Otago’s progress. although the province has had to book antiques in motor vehicles from all over New Zealand to' make their appearance in the transport section. A number of the floats will be floral decorations, the idea being copied from Pasadena and Monte Carlo. Between 80,000 and 100,000 blooms will be used. Countless thousands of later blooming flowers will con vert the Town Hall from March 2 to March 4 into a florescent garden. The floral demands are too great for Otago to meet, and Oamaru, Invercargill and Christchurch horticultural societies are assisting to provide the blooms. “Christchprch has been marvellous in its promise of flowers.” commented Mr C. V Smith, chairman of the centennial committee. The members of the Canterbury Horticultural Society will grow many oi their blooms on land made available, after preparation, by Mr W. R. Toon, of St. Martins. Designs and actual floats already seen give promise of a notable cavalcade. Dahlia and gladiolus growers from all over the South Island will compete at the March show. Visitors’ Accommodation Nearly every sports championship, national competition, and annual conference of Dominion organisations will be held in Dunedin in 1948. No organisation is being done to ensure accommodation for all who might want to visit Dunedin. The accommodation committee is working to provide board and rooms only for those taking part in functions officially listed among centennial celebrations. Twenty-one years ago visitors were attracted to Dunedin to make the Exhibition a financial success; the centennial association is fast reaching its required fund of £llO.OOO. and has made it clear that the free fun is not for those seeking it. but for those who participate in making the centennial an outstanding event. The hotels are giving preference to early settlers and visitors for officially listed events. Music and Amusement

It will not only be a year of conferences. chess tournaments and the like. bowling championships and every other imaginable gathering for Dunedin in particular and Otago in general, for an amusement park such as Dunedin has not seen since the Exhibition, will be cpen from January till the end of March at the Caledonian Ground, less than one mile from the centre of the city. Apart from the fun at this park, the centennial week shows and the continuous series of sporting events, the children will have something to remember Otago’s centennial, as each is to be given a commemorative medal, designed by Mr J. Berry, who also designed the three Otago Centennial stamps which are to be sold Musically. Dunedin, an appreciative city, will have a feast in 1948 Elizabeth Bailey is coming from London to sing in “Elijah,” in which combined choirs will appear with the National Orchestra which will later be associated with the production of "Carmen.” the principals for which are also being brought from England

Overseas lecturers—some distinguished names have been mentioned, including Lord Beveridee. of Social Security fame—are to add to the cultural attractions of the year while the official history of Otago, written by Dr. A. H. McLintock. and district histories will be published. The centennial will be permanently commemorated by two major protects, the building of a centennial wing of the Otago Museum and the remodelling and endowing of the Early Settlers’ Association’s museum As in probably every place where such projects are made. Dunedin has had its arguments, and the snortin'? bodies, which want a stadium, have been pressing th®ir claims, belatedly.