Easter in Te Puke was nothing short of EPIC this year!
We had 12 incredibly talented community groups and individual artists work their magic, creating 12 unique, creative and absolutely mind-blowing Eggs on Easels artworks.
A huge shoutout to our amazing artists:
Sarah Coates, Lisa Stowell, Creative Te Puke Forum, Te Puke Intermediate School, Te Puke Scouts, Te Puke Toy Library, Te Puke Baptist Church, Te Puke High School, Te Puke Tap & Dance, Sensory Adventures, Bilbos Dogpaws Rescue, and Rangiuru School.
People’s Choice Results
With over 600 participants taking part in the Art Scavenger Hunt and casting their votes, the competition was fierce!
A MASSIVE congratulations to our Eggs on Easels People’s Choice winners:
1st Place – Sarah Coates
2nd Place – Te Puke Intermediate School
3rd Place – Lisa Stowell
Highly Commended – Te Puke Toy Library & Rangiuru School
The calibre of entries this year was next level – we were absolutely blown away!
And a huge congratulations to Abby Blain, winner of the brand new kids bike from My Ride Te Puke. We love that this awesome prize is going to her son Beau (aged 2) – future rider in the making!
A Day Full of Fun (and a Little Improvisation!)
The turnout exceeded all expectations – and yes… we completely ran out of Art Bingo cards halfway through!
But thanks to some quick thinking, we had a good old-fashioned paper solution up and running in no time. Problem solved, EPIC-style!
Our Community Egg
One of the most special parts of the day was our EGG-PIC Community Egg.
Featuring a painted tree trunk with the words “Goodness grows here”, we invited attendees to help “grow” the tree by adding their fingerprints as leaves. Watching it come to life over the day was something pretty special!
This beautiful piece will now be proudly displayed in the EPIC Te Puke office.
Painted Rock Hunt Adventures
Alongside the scavenger hunt, our Painted Rock Hunt along the Te Ara Kahikatea pathway was a huge hit with the kids.
Each rock returned earned an Easter treat – and in a lovely surprise, another mystery artist had hidden extra rocks around Jubilee Park, meaning even more treats for our keen little hunters!
A Vibrant Community Event
The park was buzzing with:
- 9 stallholders
- 6 food vendors
- 3 fundraising groups
- 4 community organisations
Plus some of our awesome sponsors
All vendors reported an excellent day, with one fundraising group making an incredible $1,200 profit!
We’re so proud to be able to support local groups in this way – and even prouder when we see results like that!
Entertainment for Everyone
We had something for all ages this year, including a few exciting new additions:
Fun First Football – hugely popular, with over 30 kids and parents jumping in at one point!
The Photobooth Lady – a hit with families taking home fun photo memories. We printed out over 300 photostrips, and everyone loved being able to take something home. Check out the gallery here.
Balloon O’Mania – twisting up a storm as always
Face Paint by Jac – incredible artwork and happy faces everywhere
The Easter Fairy – bubbles, smiles and magical moments
Donkey rides & animals – bringing a lovely Bethlehem vibe
And of course… the Easter Bunny, wowing the crowd with unicycle tricks, treats and photo ops!
It Takes a Village
Events like this truly take a village, and we are so incredibly grateful.
Thank you to our vendors, entertainers, community groups and fundraisers for helping create such a vibrant and engaging day.
To our artists – thank you for your creativity, passion and mahi. You made this event something truly special.
And to our amazing volunteers – we simply couldn’t do this without you. Our students especially did a fantastic job and should be very proud!
Special Mentions
A few extra shoutouts to some absolute legends:
Dale Snell – for invaluable help with morning logistics
Coral Rossiter – our First Aid extraordinaire
Ash, LJ, Aaron, Marie & Janine – EPIC board members who go above and beyond
Emma – our amazing photographer who captured all the colour, chaos and joy of the day.
Mark Armstrong – for supplying and setting up the PA system
From Us to You
To everyone who came along, took part, supported, volunteered, created, or simply soaked up the atmosphere…
Thank you, Te Puke.
You showed up in true EPIC style, and we hope we brought a little extra Easter joy to our community!
Huge Thanks to Our Sponsors
We simply couldn’t bring events like this to life without the incredible support of our sponsors – thank you for backing our community and helping us create something truly special for Te Puke.
