24 Nov 2017

With less than five weeks to go until Christmas, there's a distinct festive flavour to many of the events happening around Christchurch this weekend.

Father Christmas will be making a guest appearance at Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park.

Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park

The festive season kicks off this weekend with Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park. The free outdoor concert in North Hagley Park is being headlined by award-winning soul singer Hollie Smith and will also feature Lavina Williams, Caleb Jago-Ward, Maaka Fiso, Jessie Cassin, Ella Monnery and Josh Leys. The jolly man in the red suit will also be putting in a guest appearance. The concert starts at 7.30pm and will finish with a fireworks finale just after 10pm.  If you’re planning on going to the concert please be aware there will be no general parking in Hagley Park and the Botanic Gardens car park will be closed to incoming traffic from 3pm on Saturday, with the exception of mobility card holders.

ASB Summer Starter

Put your running shoes on and take part in the ASB Summer Starter  on Sunday. This fun run/walk offers you the choice of two distances – 10km or 4km. The 10km route is from New Brighton Pier to Redcliffs Park and starts at 9am. The 4km route starts 6km down that route at Ti Rakau Reserve and starts at 9.45am. Once you’ve crossed the finishing line, you’ll be able to enjoy all the fun of the epic Finishers’ Party that is being thrown in Redcliffs Park from 10am to 12.30pm.

Banks Peninsula Walking Festival

It’s the final weekend of the Banks Peninsula Walking Festival so grab your walking shoes and head off the beaten track. This weekend you can walk in the footsteps of the early settlers through Kaituna Valley, visit a little known penguin colony near Godley Head, or if you have the stamina do a sea to sky walk that takes in all seven private covenants at French Farm. You can find out more about the walks on offer at Banks Peninsula Walks.

A cyclist races up a carpark building.

The Car Park Cannon Ball will see cyclists racing up the floors of a central city parking building.

The Car Park Cannon Ball

Christchurch is playing host to a new event this weekend – the Urology Associates Car Park Cannon Ball. The event is part of a world series of Car Park Cannon Balls being hosted by cities in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Spain and Belgium and will see cyclists taking part in one-on-race races from the bottom of the new Innovation Car Park to the top. The event begins at 5pm on Sunday and is a fundraiser for Movember and men’s health. The start line will be in the public laneway space – Poplar Street - off Lichfield Street, near the entrance to the Innovation Car Park building if you want to come along and watch the action and enjoy the street party atmosphere.

Bookarama

If you want to stock up on summer reading material, head to Addington Raceway this weekend for Bookarama. There will be a huge number of books of all sorts, plus CDs, DVDs, jigsaws, records and art for sale, with prices starting at just $1. New books will be added every day of the sale, which has been organised by the Rotary Club of Cashmere to raise funds for charity. Bookarama is on today from 9am to 6pm, tomorrow from 9am to 5pm, and on Sunday from 10am to 2pm.

Christmas Encraftment Market

Make a dent in your Christmas shopping at the Christmas Encraftment Market at the Lincoln Events Centre on Saturday. With more than 120 stalls, the market will be the perfect place to find hand-made gifts and one-off items. The market is open from 10am to 3pm.

Jellie Park pool party

Celebrate the opening of the summer pools with a pool party at Jellie Park. There will be pool games, inflatables and a lolly scramble. The party runs from midday to 3pm on Sunday. Normal pool admission charges apply.

Other events

To find out more about other events on in Christchurch over the weekend, check out the Council's events webpage.