Santa Parade cancelled
Santa might not be able to make it this year for the annual parade through town. Photo: Dan Hutchinson
Taupō’s annual Santa Parade won’t be going ahead this year unless a new organiser can be found.
The parade is organised by Advance Church Taupō with Tremains as the main sponsor.
Taupō District Council Acting District Events Manager Sarah Ashton says due to ongoing challenges with volunteer capacity and securing sufficient sponsorship funding, the current organising group has made the decision not to proceed with delivering the Santa Parade in 2026.
She says the council has not historically delivered the event and will not be taking on the delivery of the Santa Parade.
“Our role is to support event organisers through advice, facilitation, advocacy, and helping connect people and organisations where appropriate.”
Advance Church has been contacted for comment.
She announced the news in the hope that a new organiser can be found in time to run the event, which draws thousands of people into the town centre each year.
“This decision has not been taken lightly, and we would like to acknowledge the significant time, effort and commitment that has gone into delivering this much-loved community event over many years.”
She says the council is happy to “support discussions, facilitate connections, and provide advice to community groups interested in delivering the event”.
There are sure to be plenty of shocked faces when news of the Santa Parade cancellation spreads. Photo: Dan Hutchinson
“At no point is Council proposing to become the event organiser. The Santa Parade has historically been a community-led event, and any future delivery would need to be driven by an interested community organisation, group, or collective of volunteers.”
She felt that with the right group of people the event would not be too difficult to organise as a template already existed for running the event and plans were already in place.
Finding a major sponsor for the event would be key to its success though.
The cancellation of the Santa Parade comes on top of recent news that the annual New Year’s Eve fireworks displays are also not going ahead this year and Guy Fawke’s night fireworks were also looking unlikely, following the cancellation of last year’s event.
The contact for potential organisers of the Santa Parade is advancechurchtaupo@gmail.com