On Sunday, the 27. November 2016, the Farmer’s Santa Claus Parade took place in Auckland City, mainly on Queen Street. I had never been to a Santa Parade before, so I didn’t know what to expect. It started on 1 pm, so we decided to leave a bit earlier and get something to eat beforehand. What we didn’t know was, that there was a Parade, before the Parade. Mostly groups from different countries and cultures performed, while dancing through the streets. Aotea square was also filled with people and there was a small orchestra playing songs. Not Christmas songs though, songls like the Pink Panther theme… Next to the Lego Christmas tree, Bubbles form the Powerpuff girls posed for pictures. And amassadors form a brand whose name I already forgot again, handed out free ice cream. Not exactly what I had imagined when going to a Santa Parade.
To be fair, Christmas in New Zealand is midst summer. People walk around in shorts, and even though they still eat traditional European christmas dinners, such as turkey, they start to abandoning those for a christmas BBQ. And while it is understandable, for someone from Switzerland, this all seems a bit foreign (which it obviously is).
As the parade started, I noticed something else that was quite foreign to me: the extent of the sponsoring. Obviously, there had to be some, as the parade itself is sponsered by the store “Farmer’s”, but what struck me odd was that most of the groups had hardly anything to do with christmas. Barfoot & Thompson, a company known for property auctions etc, was there with dancing houses that used a wated gun to splash water at the audience. I mean, I don’t mind, but I really can’t see the connection to Santa Claus or Christmas…
On the ohter hand, there were also cultural groups within the parade, which I appreciated a lot, considering how multicultural Auckland is. Also Santa Claus has next to his reindeers little pukekos in his sled and kiwis in front of it. Not to mention the vulcano he is sitting on.
