Countdown to Saturday’s Mardi Gras under way
Some masked participants in a previous Mardi Gras parade.
Organising Takaka's biggest street party, the annual Mardi Gras, is no mean feat. Community worker Dave Myall has been at it all week, making sure everything from the food stalls to the road signs to the performers will all turn up and make the event this Saturday as successful as in previous years.
"Just don't mention the ‘R' word, that's all!" he says, referring to rain, which of course he is confident just won't happen. "Waitangi Weekend is usually blessed by fine, settled weather. And besides, it never rains around the full moon." A healthy dose of optimism always comes in handy when organising outdoor events.
Performances this year, along with buskers, will include "laughologist" Dr Palfy (ex UK), Sugra the Juggler, local clown Jazza doing face painting and balloons, the Parker Experience jazz band from Nelson, Amira Mudfaery with a new musical act, and the Lotus Fae Belly Dance Fire Performance Fusion. There will even be a bouncy castle for the kids. The star night act will be a high-energy Celtic group, The Cutty Wren, who will surely get everyone up and dancing.
Dave said that last year, youths drinking around the skateboard park was an issue that raised its head. "Parents of younger children should be aware of where their kids are. We can't keep a tab on everything happening around the unlit fringes."
Although the Mardi Gras officially goes from midday to midnight, street closure for traffic will be from 4.30pm to 1am.
Free workshops to make masks, costumes and the taniwha will be held on Friday 6 from 11am to 3pm and Saturday 7 from 10am to 1pm at the Community Centre behind the Brigand Café. Handy if you intend raising your profile a tad for the Grand Parade.
Gerard Hindmarsh
