The North Pole native rode in a new sleigh at the back of Waitaki's Santa Parade in Oamaru on Saturday and said he enjoyed seeing ''all these kids''.
''They were all very well behaved,'' Santa revealed. Parade organiser Anton Roswell, of Oamaru, said he was pleased with the turnout to the community parade, which attracted about the same number as last year's.
''People come from Palmerston, Waimate, Timaru, Dunedin ... because we put on a show,'' he said.
''I love it, I absolutely love it,'' Mr Roswell said as his fourth parade as organiser wrapped up with live music in the Farmers' car park.
The parade began with a flyover of Thames St at 10am.
A Yak-3 World War 2 Russian fighter plane dazzled the crowd before two patrol cars from TVOne's Highway Cops led the walking-speed procession down Thames St into the Heritage Precinct.
Mr Roswell was hard pressed to pick a favourite part of this year's parade: a Delorean car, complete with Marty McFly, was a first at Waitaki's Santa Parade, and the A&P association, as usual, was ''absolutely brilliant''.
Mr Roswell said he most appreciated the effort people made to put together a float.
''People spend a lot of time putting these things together and good on them.''
Over 65 businesses entered floats this year.
