SummerTimes once again a success
 The official launch of the 23rd SummerTimes calendar saw the Wizard of Christchurch cast a spell, seeking the weather gods' benevolence for the annual Council-run festival of free outdoor fun. His message might not have been clear but, given the spread of SummerTimes events and weather that took a greater toll in other parts of the country, festival goers were very lucky.
The 2005/06 programme of 27 events began in typically huge style with the Anthony Harper Lawyers New Year's Eve Party, where thousands rocked in the New Year with the Beat Girls, a lone piper's rendition of Aulde Lang Syne and a spectacular fireworks display as the bells of Christ Church Cathedral pealed.
Over the rest of the summer, Christchurch was treated to many fantastic events on differing scales, all of which were well attended. At the larger end, Anthony Harper Lawyers Summer Theatre played throughout the season on the Botanic Gardens' Daffodil Lawn, with about 300 people turning out every night to witness the tragic love-story Cyrano De Bergerac.
New Zealand's largest stage-show extravaganza ASB Starry Nights, this year themed Broadway under the Stars, was again a huge hit with the public and was witnessed by 65,000. Rick Armstrong Motors Classical Sparks, moved to a rain-day, was attended by 40,000 who celebrated the joining of Christchurch City and Banks Peninsula and witnessed a spectacular fireworks display accompanied by the Christchurch Symphony.
In between these, there were a host of local community events, including the Family Fishing Day, Outdoor Movies in the Parks, Culture Galore, The Great Kids Campout and The Press Kite Day.
The campout, in its second year on the SummerTimes calendar, again proved a huge success with 360 kids and parents camping out overnight at parks city-wide.
And, of course, to mark the end of summer, the remarkable godwits took flight from the Avon-Heathcote Estuary on a 10,000km journey back to their Alaskan breeding grounds.
The continued success of the SummerTimes calendar will no doubt see it bigger and better for the 2006/07 season.
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