The CBD is a hive of Christmas cheer as the usual lights were installed and the 10 metre tree set to be the background lifetime of family pictures. The tree will also make for a magic time at the Piazza as the sun sets and the tree and Stafford Street light up.

“It is just absolutely wonderful that we can have a bit of Christmas cheer through the CBD, we had a lot of positive feedback from the public as the tree is being installed,” Land Transport Manager Susannah Ratahi said.

“Timaru has always been a destination for Christmas, with the angels and stars on Stafford St that have been loved by multiple generations past and to come.

“We now have a large Christmas tree which will light up as it gets dark and will be visible from the carnival and as people walk around the top end of Stafford St and the“We decided to put the tree up a bit earlier than December because we wanted to make sure it was ready for the Timaru Christmas Parade along the main street.”

Susannah said it has been a mammoth effort to prepare the town for Christmas but is absolutely worth it to see the community’s positive reaction.

“The Piazza is a stunning location for the Christmas Tree and will be a drawcard for locals, visitors and cruise arrivals over the summer period and will tie in nicely with the Carnival and draw people into the CBD as well as being visible from Caroline Bay and State Highway One coming down Evans Street,” she said.

“With a lifespan of 20 years, the Christmas Tree will be an enduring feature to Timaru for years to come.”

The tree reaches a height of 10 meters including the star, the weighted base platform internal ballast, all decorations and branches equals around 7000kg. It has been designed to withstand winds of 150kph winds on the Piazza, and the structure hosts 275 metre of string lights which is around 11 laps of the indoor CBay pool, or roughly the distance from Ballantynes to the Old Bank.

“We have seen some incredible feedback from the community, and we are glad to be one of the catalysts for community Christmas spirit,” Susannah said.

“A big thank you goes to contractors who installed the tree, the NetCon team that set the tree lights to go on that same time as the streetlights and installing the main street angels.

“Thanks also to the Timaru Fire Brigade for hosting the Timaru Celebration star on their tower for another year and 360 Cranes  for hoisting it up there."

The Timaru Christmas tree was funded through the CityTown Enhancements programme, this installation was a mammoth effort that couldn’t have been achieved without the efforts of Celebrations Group, A&K Cranes, Fulton Hogan, FabTech, Hilton Haulage, NETcon and RSL Landscaping who remediated the tiles.