Queen Carnivals at Katikati and Te Puke

Event Details

DescriptionQueen Carnivals were part of life in Katikati and Te Puke for many years - they were a fun and necessary way of raising funds for the townsfolk. They were held on a regular basis to fund all kinds of activities and services, but the most obvious and significant legacies of these fundraisers must be the War Memorial Halls at Katikati and Te Puke.

After World War II, the Government made funds available to help communities build what was called a "living" memorial to the fallen - something which could be used for the community these men and women had died for. In the words of McLean and Philips in the Sorrow and the Pride: “The nature of any local war memorial is entirely a matter to be decided by the community, but the Government feels that the type which can most justifiably be subsidised out of national funds is one that while erected or established in reverent memory of our glorious dead in gratitude for what they did to ensure the continuance of a world free of oppression, will be something vitally living, something that from the very nature of its use and enjoyment will ever keep before us and the generations that follow us that freedom of life and personal expression for which our men and women fought and fell”.

To that end, many communities opted for a War Memorial Hall. Both Katikati and Te Puke had to raise the funds to match the funds provided by the government and the best way to do that was to have a Queen Carnival. Last edited by: Sandra Haigh