Hundreds of people, mostly youngsters, flocked to the opening day of the pre-Christmas Pixietown exhibition at Toitu Otago Settlers Museum.
Curator Peter Read said the Pixietown pre-Christmas displays had attracted a "pretty frantic" response yesterday, and some young children had stood as if "mesmerised" by the mechanical pixies nearby.
The pixies, and associated appearances by Santa, had long proved popular, attracting about 25,000 people to the museum in the previous season.
The pixie figures on display in the show were a drawcard for both young and old, and some older people who had previously enjoyed the pixies themselves were bringing their children, or other young relatives, to see the displays, he said.
The pixies are in action every day from 10am to noon and 1pm to 4pm until December 24, and Santa will also be nearby at the museum today and tomorrow, as well as from next Saturday until December 24.
The exhibition’s popular "pixies" were built by Nelson man Fred Jones and displayed at the former Dunedin DIC department store until it closed in the late 1980s.