Slideshow: 'Good vibe' at annual Hyde St party

The theme was Saints and Sinners for (from left, at front) Ciaran Naylor, Max Tierney, Lara...
The theme was Saints and Sinners for (from left, at front) Ciaran Naylor, Max Tierney, Lara McColl and (at rear) Hayden Vermeulen, of Auckland, at 25 Hyde St. PHOTOS: GREGOR RICHARDSON
Party-goers pack Hyde St for the annual event on Saturday.
Party-goers pack Hyde St for the annual event on Saturday.

Dunedin police say they are pleased with the behaviour of most attending attended the Hyde Street party, with no one arrested, however still concerned about the number of young people drinking to excess.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said officers did remove 43 people from the event, the majority for not having a wrist band/ticket, there were about 10 for behaviour related offences, and two people for climbing on roofs.

Of those people removed, about six were given formal warnings for trespassing, or referred to the Proctor’s office.

A checkpoint was also set up and over 200 drivers breath tested and only four people had alcohol on their breath, but no one was processed for drink-driving.

The annual Dunedin event on Saturday began slowly, albeit with plenty of music and some striking costumes, and was still "pretty mellow" by the afternoon, organisers said.

Exact numbers were not available, but after a quiet start in the morning, the party still had still fully not reached the 3600 expected capacity by shortly after 1pm.

"It’s actually been pretty mellow this year," Otago University Students Association marketing and communications manager Ingrid Roding said.

"It has been building up [attendance], but there’s a good vibe and everybody’s well-behaved."

Revellers on their way to the Hyde St party this morning. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
Revellers on their way to the Hyde St party this morning. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON
A police spokesman said 20 officers were on duty, but only one incident had been reported by late morning of some people in costume drinking in Cumberland St.

Police had not made any arrests, or received any other complaints, the spokesman said.

Forty OUSA student support people wearing pink "Are You OK?" T-shirts were helping party-goers, and OUSA president Michaela Waite-Harvey and finance and strategy officer Josh Meikle also appeared, resplendent in bright yellow banana suits.

Ms Roding said all of the tickets for the event had been sold, and online ticketing had been provided by Eventbrite, instead of by OUSA, for the first time this year.

QR codes added to wristbands this year enabled students and their emergency contacts to be quickly identified, she said.

One student party-goer, Lara McColl (19), said she was looking forward to "everyone getting together, meeting new people".

Yellow-jacketed police and security provided further support, and the usual tidal wave of colourful costumes included many fairy outfits, including some red wings, and students wearing an elegant tuxedo and a stunning white wedding dress.

Some do-it-yourself "police" were of the student make-believe kind, and some others were dressed as military, including impressive camoflague suits, to say nothing of some fairly senior clergy.

"I’m the Bishop of Booze,"  one new arrival, dressed in bishop-like garb, jokingly announced.

john.gibb@odt.co.nz

 

 

 

 

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