The Christmas Parade in Oamaru has no-one to organise it next year, after its co-ordinator for the past six years, Gary Watling, stepped down because of worries about personal liability.
He hopes someone else or another organisation will take over the event.
This week, Mr Watling outlined to the Waitaki District Council his reasons for stepping down, and urged it not to necessarily organise the event but "drive it".
Mr Watling and his company, Radio Works, took over organising the event six years ago "as a committee of one", when no-one else was available to do it.
"The time has come for me to step down and someone else to step up," he said.
One of the reasons he was stepping down was liability, particularly relating to safety and regulations.
One example this year was the lack of a float for Santa Claus, who rode on a jet-ski instead of his traditional sleigh pulled by reindeer. The Santa float had been in such poor condition, it was unable to get a warrant of fitness.
Mr Watling said he had "many sleepless nights" leading up to the parade.
"It's not the parade; it's what you have to do [to comply]," he said.
Mr Watling feared he personally or his company could be liable if something happened during the parade.
Service groups and another business had indicated they could take over the parade, but nothing had been settled. A service group had also offered to rebuild the Santa float.
He did not know if anyone owned the rights to the parade.
Mr Watling said he had a template for organising the parade, work on which started in early October.
