Santa parades are especially for children. There are usually a large number of floats moving slowly on trucks. Often they are nursery rhyme figures like Humpty Dumpty or Walt Disney figures like Mickey Mouse. There are always bands playing music and clowns running beside the floats but, most importantly, the last float is always Santa Claus and his reindeer.

　　Christchurch had a wonderful outdoor concert last weekend called Christmas in the Park. Auckland will have theirs on December 10th. Wellington has Carols by Candlelight in Waitangi Park on December 14th where there will be “a rainbow as wide as the harbour”.

　　Every town and city now has Christmas decorations on their streets and some bigger towns have a large Christmas tree in a central place.

　　Two notes about the text

　　It is common to write “13th” but say “the 13th”.

　　Quotation marks around “a rainbow as wide as the harbour”.

　　show that someone said these words.

　　Verb Tenses

　　It is common to use present tense to mean a future plan e.g. have their parade tomorrow; has … on December 14th. It is possible to use “will have” also.

　　Vocabulary

　　To line the street means to stand on the side on the street, often behind a rope.

　　A float is a decorated stage which moves on wheels. Characters dress in costumes and usually wave to the crowds.

　　‘Figures’ has many meanings. Here it means characters, people.

　　Carols are Christmas songs. The most famous is Silent Night.

　　Questions

　　Although Christmas is a religious time for Christians, many people who are not Christian enjoy Christmas. Do you think this is right?

　　Christmas decorations and events are not really free. Sometimes they are sponsored by a big company but usually the city or town pays for them from our rates (tax on homes). Are you happy for your rates to be used for these things?