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| Hastings Blossoms |
Tomorrow is '
The Hastings Blossom Parade'. Something just for us, not that too cool Napier Crowd. Just Hastings. Crepe paper sales have probably skyrocketed, pink paper is at a premium. Be there, or be square.
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The Hastings Blossom Festival of 1960 became famous for its so-called
‘riot’. The float parade had been cancelled because of wet weather.
This, combined with an influx of young people in the city centre,
overcrowding in hotels and overbearing crowd-control tactics (like the
use of fire-hoses) created a situation where fights readily broke out.
Moral panic in the wake of this incident inflated it in the popular
imagination to a full-scale riot instigated by rebellious young people.
In reality only a small number of people were actually fighting. Twelve
were charged, and only with minor offences related to disorderly
behaviour. Alexander Turnbull Library, Dominion Post Collection (PAColl-7327)
Reference:
EP/1960/3292 | | | |
