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Christmas decorations are going up

News story
Friday 28 Oct 2016

It’s that time of the year when we mark the arrival of Christmas by dressing the city centre with festive decorations. The first of a series of installations will start on Friday 11 November with the installation of Santa and his reindeer on the Farmers building.

 

The dates for the installation and removal works for Santa, as well as road closures, are as follows:

Friday 11 November 2016, 2am – 7am – Santa’s boots installed

Access from Queen Street into Victoria Street East towards Bowen Ave will be closed. Traffic will be able to come down Bowen Ave and straight through but not up Bowen Ave.

Saturday 12 November 2016, 3am – 1pm – Santa and presents installed
Access from Queen Street into Victoria Street East towards Bowen Ave will be closed. Traffic will be able to come down Bowen Ave and straight through but not up Bowen Ave. Queen Street will be reduced to one lane south bound between Victoria Street East and Durham Street West.

Sunday 13 November (rain date 20 November), 5am – 6pm – Reindeer installed

Full road closures of Victoria Street East (between Queen and High Streets) and Bowen Avenue will be in place. Two lanes of Queen Street will also be closed. A traffic detour will be set in place, access to and from the Victoria Street carpark building will be maintained as usual and footpath access will be maintained to all businesses at all times.

Saturday 7 January 2017, 3am – 1pm – Santa and presents de-installed
Access from Queen Street into Victoria Street East towards Bowen Street will be closed. Traffic will be able to come down Bowen Ave and straight through but not up Bowen Ave.

Sunday 8 January 2017, 5am – 6pm – Reindeer de-installed
Full road closures of Victoria Street East (between Queen and High Streets) and Bowen Avenue will be in place. Two lanes of Queen Street will also be closed. A traffic detour will be set in place, access to and from the Victoria Street carpark building will be maintained as usual and footpath access will be maintained to all businesses at all times.

If you have any access issues to be taken into account for your business, particularly on Sunday 13 November 2016 or Sunday 8 January 2017 whilst the road closures are in place, please contact Sonya Gandras at Heart of the City on 09 379 8000, sonya@hotcity.co.nz or on the days of install, Nick Aloua of iTraffic on 022 6946 770.

 
LEGO Christmas tree

 

We are very excited to have the Southern Hemisphere’s largest LEGO Christmas Tree taking centre stage in Aotea Square from Friday 25 November to Tuesday 27 December. Built with over half a million LEGO bricks, the spectacular tree will be the largest-ever LEGO build in New Zealand, with a uniquely kiwiana feel as well as a wonderful light and sound show every evening from 7pm. It will definitely be a family favourite this season!

Lights and doves

Decorative lighting and hanging doves will be raised in upper and lower Vulcan Lane and also in Durham Street East. These will be installed from 14-15 November in the early hours of the morning.

Larger than life baubles and presents

Oversized baubles are making a comeback in Darby Street and lower Vulcan Lane. We are also bringing back six interactive kiwiana Resene presents in Darby Street, Elliott Street, Jean Batten Place, O’Connell Street, Chancery Square and Aotea Square.

Finally, watch out for more quirky Lovebites this Christmas. The campaign will kick off from 21 November with the aim of attracting even more Aucklanders and visitors into the city centre to shop, celebrate and dine. 

In the meantime, we encourage you to dress your business with vibrant decorations and join us in celebrating an exciting Christmas in the city centre.