Updated:7:30pm: A message of love and hope closed this afternoon's memorial service in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

Sir Jerry Mateparae and mayor Lianne Dalziel both spoke at the service, which included a minute's silence at 12.51.

Christchurch Catholic Diocese Administrator Father Rick Loughnan ended the service with a blessing.

"May our courage and hope find practical ways to be true neighbours to those who need us, and may we do this with true vision and love."

The names of the 185 people who died in the earthquake were read out at the service.

The first stage of the official earthquake memorial has opened today on the north bank of the Avon River.

Builder Simon Boag has taken his lunch-break at the memorial, and describes it as a peaceful space.

"I like the plantings, it's just got a nice feel about it just watching the river go by."

The entire memorial will be completed in time for the commemorations next year.

Thousands of people observed a minute of silence in Christchurch’s Botanic Gardens, to mark five years since the February earthquake.

Mayor Lianne Dalziel addressed the crowd saying today was about remembering the past while focusing on the future.

She acknowledged "the significance of Christchurch being the final resting place of many from overseas, and creating for ourselves a sense of place where we all belong."

Ms Dalziel said Christchurch will always been known as the garden city, but that might mean something a little different in the 21st century.

It's been five years since the February 2011 earthquake struck Christchurch.

Now, the city's mayor said Christchurch is still in the process of reinventing itself.

Lianne Dalziel has cast her eyes forward to the future.

"It's always going to be a garden city that's why I love coming here, but a garden city in the twenty-first centaury is something different it's a about sustainability, it's about food resilience, it's about all of those things."

Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae passed on the thoughts of the Royal Family.

"Her Majesty's thoughts are with us, as we gather to commemorate this sad anniversary."

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River of Flowers

Around four-hundred people, including school children, have gathered at a site alongside the Avon River.

A minute of silence was held at the Medway Street site at exactly 12.51.

It was followed by a haka and solo piper.

Avon-Otakaro network co-chair Evan Smith said involving children in the commemorations is hugely important.

Many of these children have been really badly impacted by the earthquakes and they are still suffering."

"It's an important part of the healing process to go through these events."

Flowers are also being tossed into the river to honour those who lost their lives in the 2011 disaster.

It's a tradition that’s taken place after every memorial service over the past five years.