Surprises in store for Summer Times

Press, 18 December 1985, Page 9

Surprises in store for Summer Times

Christchurch people ' intending to make merry at this year’s New Year’s Eve mardi gras in Hagley Park are being encouraged to wear carnival clothes and bring a musical instrument. The mardi-gras, part of the Christchurch City Coun-cil-co-ordinated Summer Time programme, will begin at 9.30 p.m. Later in the evening, revellers can join a procession of musicians, clowns, and dancers and make their way to Cathedral Square to see in the New Year.

On New Year’s Day, the merry-making will continue with a rock concert in Hagley Park between 6.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. A week later the free Summer Times evening and week-end programmes will begin in earnest, with a day of big surprises in Hagley Park. A “teddy bears’ picnic” will be held in the park

on Sunday, January 5, between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Summer Times organisers are encouraging people to bring a teddy bear or dress as one when they come to the picnic. A day of games, entertainment, and honey is promised. Jazz lovers can spend an evening with some of Christchurch’s best jazz performers in Hagley Park on Wednesday, January 8, between 6.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. After the concert a movie will be shown outdoors if it is fine. Country music fans will also have the chance to stomp their feet to their kind of beat at the “Taste of Country” evening in Hagley Park on Wednesday, January 15, starting at 6.30 p.m. Country fun will continue on Sunday, January 19, at the “Country Fair Day” in Hagley Park between mid-

day and 5 pan. The fair will include demonstrations of polo and wood chopping, as well as food and craft stalls and country music entertainment Rock ’n’ rollers can “shake it all about” at a rock ’n’ roll concert in Hagley Park on Wednesday, January 22, between 6.30 p.m. and 9.30 pm. Rock music fans will be able to continue to count the beat at a concert planned for the afternoon of February 2 in the park. This year’s Summer, Times programme is certainly not lacking in variety. On Sunday, January 26, an intergalactic gala will be held in Hagley Park, between midday and 5 pm. Dressing in alien gear and bringing along a kite is a must for all participants say organisers. To celebrate next year’s United Nations’ theme International Year of Peace, a peace and people’s day will be held in Hagley Park on Sunday, February 16, from midday to 5 pm. Floral arrangements and decorations by pupils from Christchurch schools will also be on display during the day. As well as the evening and week-end events, lunchtime concerts in Cathedral Square and suburban malls will continue throughout the summer until February 14.