The success of the inaugural Twilight Farmers' Market and Christmas Party in Oamaru's historic area on Tuesday night exceeded the expectations of one of its organisers, Lucianne White.
This year the event was a combined effort between the Tourism Waitaki, Farmers' Market, Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust and Scott's Brewery, aimed at bringing people in to the historic area for a last minute Christmas shop and fresh produce for Christmas Day.
''It went so well. I had some pretty high expectations, but they were exceeded,'' she said.
What was particularly pleasing was the large number of local people who turned out - part of the aim of the event was to get people who may not have visited the area for a while to also see how much development there had been.
The number of people was hard to estimate because so many were coming and going during the event from 4pm to ''until late''.
The collaborative event bringing the different organisations together was a first and was so successful others would be planned during next year.
The warm, sunny weather contributed to the success, along with the entertainment, shopping, dining, music and more against the backdrop of the historic and harbour areas.
