If some of the smiles looked forced, that was only because the faces they were plastered on had gone numb.
• Slideshow: Dunedin Santa Parade
But throw at it what the weather may, the 17th annual Dunedin Santa Parade came through and prevailed.
''Santa Claus is Coming to Town'' the music persistently promised, and come he did.
And while numbers appeared down a little, by the time Santa hit the Octagon, the street was full.
Dunedin Santa Parade Trust chairman Mark Laughton said organisers held off on a final decision to go ahead, as light rain fell yesterday morning.
The parade this year had 78 entries, more than 30 of them floats that needed to keep dry.
''I actually rang Balclutha and Gore to find out how it was down there, and then made an educated guess,'' Mr Laughton said.
''It was a tricky one.''
Calling the parade off would have been a big call, as 150 were children organised for floats.
You lose so many the week later, because of other commitments.''
At 11am, the parade was given the go-ahead.
''When I made the decision, I was quite happy, then at one o'clock it started to come in a wee bit, and I thought 'Oh my goodness', but we were committed at that stage.
''Our real concern at that point was children on floats getting cold and being uncomfortable, but it came right.''
Mr Laughton said he was initially worried about how many had turned up to watch the parade.
''Looking down the street I was worrying about how numbers would be, but gee, come three o'clock, they were fine. They were there in their droves.''
He said a highlight of the parade was ''the excitement on the children's faces, holding on to their parents, just so excited''.
Mr Laughton said that made all the months of work worthwhile.
''We were fine with the decision. We could have canned it and then had pouring rain next weekend.''
He said planning for next year was already under way, and the trust was ''furiously fundraising''.
''It's looking quite good, and so we will be building new floats for next year.''
Santa himself brought up the rear of the parade, waving his blessings to the crowd below.
''Merry Christmas everyone,'' he said.
