The Maniototo Christmas tree was switched on during the late night shopping last Friday night as the silly season gets underway.

Christmas time sees a lot of fun activities and community focused initiatives being crammed into the last few weeks of the year including kura (school) and club prizegivings, Christmas parties and end of year celebrations. 

Tomorrow the Artisan Food and Wine Market is at Alexandra’s Central Stories Museum and Art Gallery from 10am -2pm with local wines, spirits, food treats and handmade craft and gifts for sale.

Santa will be there from 10.30am - 1.30pm and there will be free activities for children. 

If sport is more your jam, Pasifika Central Otago is holding a Christmas Sports Day including basketball, touch rugby, futsal, volleyball, and novelty races at the Cromwell College gym from 11am, with lunch provided.

Pacific Trust Otago and Uruuruwhenua Hauora Central will be there, providing an MMR vaccination clinic for Pacific RSE workers. 

If you need to sort out more gifts on Sunday the Cromwell Farmers and Craft Market (from 9am -1pm in the heritage precinct) has lots of authentic goodies, fresh fruit and vegetables, flowers, preserves and food stalls from local mall businesses. 

Secret Santa is running in Cromwell again and several places are collecting gift donations including Cromwell Paper Plus, Cromwell ANZ, Cromwell Harcourts and OnPoint. If residents can’t drop off their donations, contact Secret Santa Cromwell.

Santa gets thirsty too, so he’s calling into Station Brewing on Sunday 12pm - 3.30pm and the $10 it costs per family for a digital photo, will go to a local charity.  

Santa is set to make multiple visits across the region in the lead up to Christmas. PHOTO: FILE

In the libraries the big man in red himself will be visiting and free Christmas crafts are also offered for children: Santa will be in Cromwell on Monday December 16 at 10.30am, and then Ranfurly later that day at 1.30pm. 

Alexandra library’s turn is later next week 10.30am on Friday, December 20, followed by Roxburgh at 1.30pm that afternoon. 

For entertainment the Christmas movies are out; along with Moana 2 and Wicked, The Central App’s picks are The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Roxburgh Cinema on Dec 14 and 20) or The Lord of Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, an anime flick set 183 years before the original trilogy (Central Cinema on Dec 14).

Read more: Light Up Central brings Christmas cheer

Read more: Community Christmas lunch returns for 2024

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