The Hīmatangi Beach Firefighters Football is a great community event held at Hīmatangi Beach. This year it’s on the 28th December 2024. The event is organised and run by the members of the Hīmatangi Beach Volunteer Fire Brigade as their main fundraising event for the year.

Firefighters football was started in the early 1990’s by Retired Chief Fire Officer Merv Smith. It was introduced to the brigade on a training night, they had so much fun and were eagerly spotted by the campers next door, who wanted to join in.

This resulted in an annual challenge from the campsite to the fire brigade in the local park. This very quickly grew to include locals as well. After the camp changed hands a few times the challenge was forgotten for a few years. However the campers could not forget such fun and soon challenged the brigade to bring it back.

How could the brigade refuse, it provided so much fun and entertainment for spectators as well as players the brigade decided to reintroduce the annual summer event. It has continued to grow each year and is still providing fun and entertainment to the campers and village people.

There is now a trophy for the winning team which is normally won by a team from the camp as they tend to enter the most teams. Its a great fun day out for all ages.