More than 59,000 people visited the EA Networks Ashburton Glow in the Park event in the Ashburton Domain over King’s Birthday weekend.
The district council three-night event saw the domain gardens bathed in special effect lighting and novelty displays.
Among them attractions of an Eiffel Tower, LED butterfly swing and jungle zone, as well as a fire performer. It also included a big range of food vendors, new rides and activities in the amusement zone.
Group manager compliance and development Ian Hyde said estimates about 13,000 people visited on Friday, 28,000 on Saturday and 18,000 on Sunday.
‘‘Feedback has been very positive, with many visitors mentioning the new lighting features and the wide range of food vendors as their highlights.
‘‘We’ve heard that spreading out the light display route, offering alternative quiet routes, enforcing the one-way flow and extending the hours significantly improved some of the congestion issues we experienced last year, which is really pleasing given the large number of visitors we had onsite.’’
Hyde said just over half of the visitors were from within the Ashburton District. Friday night had the highest proportion of local visitors, with those travelling from elsewhere preferring the Saturday or Sunday nights
‘‘Interestingly, we saw an increase in visitors from outside the three closest districts, with people traveling from as far as Invercargill and Nelson to attend Glow.’’
‘‘As with all our events, we’ll take some time to talk to our event partners, staff and vendors to see what further improvements can be made, but overall, we’re delighted with how the event ran and grateful to our volunteers, sponsors and our community for their strong support.’’
More photographs from the weekend can be viewed on the Ashburton District Council Facebook page.
