Northern Southland’s Cycle and Celebrate wasn’t able to happen this year but the Celebrate still happened on 20 November and, with the sun shining and the band pumping, the day was a rousing success.

The Northern Southland Cycle and Celebrate was started in 2016 and organised by the Northern Southland Community Resource Centre Charitable Trust (NSCRCCT).

Each year more and more people have joined in to make it an exciting event with individuals and families over Northern Southland and beyond coming to enjoy the trail and some quality biking.

The crowd enjoying the day. Photo: Jeanna Rodgers

Unfortunately, due to Covid, the 2021 event had to be completely cancelled and when the organisers started to plan for the 2022 Cycle and Celebrate event, they were struggling to find enough helpers to be able to run the cycle part safely.

That, combined with the uncertainty as to whether they would be restricted with numbers, meant that they decided to just go ahead with the “Celebrate” part and put the cycle on hold for another year.  

Community coordinator, Cara Colquhoun commented, “After not being able to host our usual Cycle and Celebrate day for 2 years we really wanted to provide a day of fun and a chance for new people in our area to see what we have to offer in Northern Southland.”

The 2022 celebration proved to be a huge success! Northern Southland’s popular band “Elbow Junction” provided entertainment for the balmy afternoon allowing people to wander around and enjoy the stalls, dance or just sit and appreciate the music.

The NSCRCCT felt that they achieved their goal of providing the community with a fantastic event full of free activities for the children, Active Southland ran a fun obstacle course, Balfour local, David Brand had some quirky games including arm wrestling and a gumboots toss into a loo, Mid Northern Southland Toy Library had a tent full of toys and activities for the little people, Laura Douglas taught some whip cracking techniques and the Lumsden Fire Brigade ran some kitchen fire demonstrations.

Several stalls were present selling things from plants to handmade earrings and plenty in between.

Cara Colquhoun (Tigger), Bella Reed (Eeyore) and Ben Reed (Pooh). Photo: Jeanna Rodgers

There was also high tea if you were after something a little more sophisticated.

Local compere, Wayne Duncan, was on hand to update everyone on the format for the day from announcing random competitions to the arrival of the Westpac Rescue helicopter.

Colquhoun reflected, “At one point of the day I had a moment of looking around and I saw so much happiness, relaxation and enjoyment which made me realise we had achieved our goal for the day.”

Once the dust settles, planning for 2023 will begin.

The committee hopes that more volunteers will come forward so they can run the full cycle and celebrate in November 2023 so watch this space.