Manfeild fireworks go off with a bang

WARWICK SMITH/ Manawatu Standard

FAMILY TIME: From left, Liam Rauzi, 11, Devon Charles, 7, and Corbyn Charles, 8, gaze skyward during the fireworks display.

EXPLOSIVE: Fireworks light up the sky at Manfeild Park, Feilding.

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The annual Manfeild fireworks event – held in perfect weather last night – could be permanently shifted to a pre-Christmas date instead of early November.

Feilding Promotion manager Helen Worboys said after last night's Manawatu Fireworks Spectacular organisers would look at staging it at a similar time next year.

Unsettled weather during early summer has forced the event's postponement to nearer Christmas several times in recent years, including this year.

There was a better weather pattern near Christmas, Mrs Worboys said, as well as the opportunity to have a Christmas-themed event.

Last year's show attracted about 20,000 people and Mrs Worboys estimated a similar number attended this year's event.

Coffee stall owner Maxine Gore felt sales were a bit down on last year.

Palmerston North woman Sam Judd said the Christmas timing made it harder for her family to attend, but she had made a promise to her son Zac Soper, 8.

Going to the fireworks was a family tradition, she said.

Her partner Brian Pawson said it was the first time he had been to a fair since he was a child.

Jan Avison – a recent arrival to Palmerston North after living in a motor home with husband Ron for 3 1/2 years – said it had been a beautiful day.

Mrs Avison felt the night was a bit drawn out, however.

"It's a long time for the kids to wait."

The fireworks display, run by the Kairanga Lions Club, started and finished with a bang, shortly after 10pm.

Thousands of people crammed the circuit on the cool night to watch the impressive 20-minute display.

Elder Walker, 20, a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the fireworks were amazing.

Based in Feilding, he has another year left on his mission before he returns to Florida in the United States.

- © Fairfax NZ News