Snowmen, nutcrackers and even the Grinch adorned shopfront windows in George St as businesses vied to be the best decorated.
Businesses along the central city street were encouraged to get into the festive spirit as part of the Dunedin Central Rotary Club’s Christmas window decorating competition.
Branch president April Eden said one of their members thought George St was looking "a little bit drab" amid another tough year for shop owners. So the charity decided to get the street into the Christmas spirit by generating some healthy competition .
A total of 20 businesses signed up for the competition — including Mi Piaci, Antidote Pharmacy in the Octagon, The Bog and Rob Roy Dairy.
Dunedin real estate agencies had also come forward to decorate some of the vacant shop-fronts.
Making George St more festive and decorative encouraged people to come down and check it out, Mrs Eden said.
There had been a good response from the shops that were participating and more than 600 people had voted for their favourite on the charity’s online poll.
One display encouraged people to count how many Santas were hidden behind the window, while Brent Weatherall Jeweller had kept adding to their display and at present had received the most votes.
"Every day I go past there's more bits and pieces showing."
The charity had initially planned to donate $10 for every business that entered the competition to the Dunedin Community Christmas Dinner, but had since decided to donate $1000 in total, Mrs Eden said.
A $500 prize was on the line for the best overall shopfront, with a further $250 each for the most creative and people’s choice.
The winners would be announced on Friday and the charity planned to hold the decorating competition annually.
They had not wanted people to spend money on the competition, Mrs Eden said.
"It's amazing what you can do with a bit of cardboard and a bit of tinsel floating around."
