Extravaganza lights up city
by Lisa Mills, Gisborne Herald
THE first day of the New Year closed in spectacular style on Wednesday night as the Riversun River of Light show brought down the curtain on the Tuia 2003 Festival.
Crowds of people eager to see what this year’s pageant had to offer packed the banks of the Taruheru and Turanganui rivers, expecting a show to remember.
They were not disappointed.
The free festival attracted about 7000 people and the participants were testament to the wealth of talent in Tairawhiti.
Children of all ages paraded their colourful creations made during the festival’s Travelling Tuatara Children’s Workshop, which proved popular with the crowd.
The young artists paraded dragons, puppets and masks and brightly decorated flags and banners.
As dusk began to fall, the river came alive with "floating art" which featured a jazz band, visiting street performer Air Jair and several Gisborne rowing and waka ama clubs.
A highlight for the crowd was when Air Jair lost control of his unicycle and went crashing into the river.
However, he was able to pull himself back on to the floating barge and retrieve his cycle.
Surf lifesavers were on hand in their inflatable rescue boats just in case.
Wainui Waka Ama Club took first prize in the floating art parade, closely followed by the Mareikura Waka Ama Club.
A song written about the February stranding of the Jody F Millennium was also a crowd pleaser and was accompanied by hilariously funny antics by the water clowns in a "replica" Jody.
Jonathon Besser and Nigel Gavin showed the wealth of their musical talent with several original tunes before Gisborne diva Mere Boynton and the Turanga Ararau vocal ensemble wowed the crowd with their stunning voices.
The ethereal procession of lanterns paraded along the riverbank and the river before a feast of fire performers put on a great display with flaming pois and fire sticks.
Huge images of birds were set alight before a smoke snorting, fire eating dragon meandered along the river.
The grand finale was truly magical. The Walter Findlay Ltd-- sponsored fireworks display had people gasping as they saw an array of colours and patterns shoot into the night sky.
Former Gisborne man Chris Hilder showed the true art of pyrotechnics in the 12-minute display which, at times, had the crowds yelling for more. It was over all too soon and as the people began to move off many raved about the two-and-a-half-hour show.
"Absolutely fantastic," one woman said.
Organiser Keren Rickard said she was pleased with the final production although she admitted it was somewhat daunting putting on a show for so many people without a dress rehearsal.
"The number of people who have turned out for the event is a wonderful show of community support," she said.