Dunedin dawn service convener Lox Kellas said he estimated about 8500 people gathered in Queens Gardens to watch veterans, their families, military personnel, emergency service workers and pupils from Dunedin schools march on to grounds around the Dunedin Cenotaph just after 6am.
Slideshow: Anzac day commemorations around Otago
Two rounds from a 105mm Howitzer field gun started the service, which featured guest speaker Royal New Zealand Navy officer Captain Dean McDougall, from Defence Headquarters in Wellington.
Capt McDougall urged New Zealanders to prepare for the upcoming centenaries of the start of World War 1 (1914) and the Gallipoli landings (April 25, 1915).
''Every community, town and city in New Zealand will mark [them] in some way, acknowledging the service, the sacrifice and the impact his war had upon those who lived through it and changed a nation it left behind.
''All of us have links, direct or indirect to those who served their country in the Great War, whether overseas or on the home front.''
As the weather cleared, numbers at services across Dunedin were high. More than 500 turned out at Mosgiel and more than 700 at Green Park cemetery. Regular attendee Cr Colin Weatherall said it was the largest crowd at the cemetery yet.
Hundreds also turned out for services at Palmerston (200), Waikouaiti (200), Andersons Bay cemetery (400), Green Island (220) and Brighton (210).
People also gathered to remember servicemen and women at other services around the region, including at Outram, Port Chalmers, Dunedin Hospital, Hillside workshops, Montecillo Veteran's Home and Hospital, Waitati, St Paul's Cathedral in Dunedin, Middlemarch and the Caledonian Bowling Club.
Otago University Students' Association president Francisco Hernandez said about 400 gathered at 1.30pm for the Otago University service on the lawn, in front of the university's clock tower.
The larger crowd was due to the good weather, the increased awareness of the event and a good attendance by returned servicemen and women, Mr Hernandez said.
''They turned up in force.''
About 80 people attended a white poppy service at the Museum Reserve.
South and West Otago
Anzac services throughout South and West Otago were well attended.
About 13 services were held across South and West Otago yesterday.
In Balclutha, the dawn service began at 7.15am, with the Balclutha Pipe Band leading a procession of about 100 people from the War Memorial Hall to the service at the Balclutha Cenotaph, attended by about 400 people.
The service was led by the Rev Gary Matlock, who spoke about the great sacrifice many had made to defend others.
The service at the Milton Cenotaph drew more than 300 people and State Highway 1 was closed for an hour and a-half.
Soldiers from 2/4 Battalion RNZIR (formerly 4 Otago Southland Battalion Group) fired a three-volley salute near the end of the ceremony.
At Tuapeka Mouth, nearly 150 attended the service at the old school, where South Otago Museum curator Gary Ross spoke about his grandfather, who fought in World War 2.
The Lawrence service at Simpson Park drew a crowd of 200. A past resident Pop Winmill gave an address. The crowd then paraded down Peel St to the Peace Gardens, where wreaths were laid.
In Owaka, about 200 attended the service at the Owaka Community Centre where Mary Sutherland spoke about her father's experience in the war, reading from his journal.
About 250 attended the service in Clinton and about 45 were at a short ceremony at the Benhar Cenotaph.
In West Otago, about 250 gathered at Blue Mountain College, in Tapanui, to pay their respects and to listen to speaker Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan. The service at Heriot was well attended, as was the unveiling of the Kelso-Glenkenich war memorial.
Others paid their respects at services at Fairfax cemetery, near Milton, Lovell's Flat church, and Kaitangata.
North Otago
Anzac services in North Otago yesterday were hailed as being the best attended in many years.
Dawn services in Oamaru and Hakataramea both pulled in huge crowds. More than 1000 people were estimated to have attended the Oamaru service, and more than 300 at Hakataramea.
Hundreds also lined Thames St in Oamaru for the annual Anzac parade and wreath-laying ceremony at 10.30am.
Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton said it was ''great'' to see the large turnout, and added that he was particularly pleased to see an increased number of young people at both the Oamaru dawn service and the wreath-laying ceremony.
''It was good to see the personal commitment from the community shown in the numbers that have come out today.''
Mr Familton said the high turnout was proof of a growing interest in the district's history and heritage. Upper Waitaki RSA member Tony Blackstock said organisers were ''taken aback'' that more than 300 people attended the Hakataramea service and more than 60 people also attended the Omarama service at 11am, despite a ''very cold morning''.
Central Otago
Fog blanketed much of Central Otago early yesterday morning but lifted to reveal clear skies, leaving Anzac service organisers thankful. The region's first service begun at 6.30am in Ranfurly and was followed by Roxburgh, at 7am.
Both services were well attended, possibly with more people than in previous years.
It was the first dawn service in at least 90 years for Roxburgh and RSA president Andy Reed said it was likely to return.
The Alexandra service also experienced a first ''in quite a long time'', Alexandra-Clyde RSA president Kevin Harding said - live firing by members of a territorial platoon from Cromwell.
''It's something that needs to be done,'' he said.
As well as the Ranfurly dawn service, Maniototo also hosted a family service, in Naseby.
Maniototo RSA secretary Chris Parkes said it was encouraging to see many young families turn out.
It was a frosty start for those in Cromwell and Bannockburn, where the day began with the laying of poppies on graves in the cemetery. Cromwell RSA president John Morton said the sun had begun to thaw people by the time they got to the Bannockburn service.
That was followed by a large service in Cromwell. The town's memorial hall was full and people stood outside.
The Clyde service had ''probably the best turnout yet,'' Mr Harding said.
Services also took place in Omakau and Millers Flat.
Guest speakers throughout the region included former New Zealand SAS commander Graye Shattky, former army wife Raewyn Inder, Royal New Zealand naval volunteer Peter Campbell and naval Commander Shaun Fogerty.
Wakatipu
Anzac services in the Wakatipu started with a dawn service on Queenstown's lakefront and ended with poppies being left at Arrowtown's war memorial.
An estimated 800-strong crowd turned out for Queenstown's first Anzac Day dawn service in living memory.
Traditionally, the resort hosts an Anzac Day parade and service after 9am but the Queenstown Returned Services Association added yesterday's 6.45am ceremony after growing requests from locals and visitors.
Guest speaker Rhonda Parry read from the war diary of her great-grandfather James Philip Guy, of Wakatipu, who survived being shot in the chest at Gallipoli.
Dignitaries including Deputy Prime Minister and Clutha-Southland MP Bill English joined veterans to lay wreaths.
A later service in the newly-upgraded Queenstown Memorial Centre was attended by more than 500, reaching the venue's capacity. Mr Geddes said later it was almost certain Queenstown would host two services next year, given the popularity of both.
All who commented on the Arrowtown Anzac service mentioned the increasing numbers attending, especially children, and this year pupils from Arrowtown Primary School helped mark the day.
For the first time, the school choir led the crowd - which numbered around 700 and had spilled out of Athenaeum Hall into Buckingham St - in singing the national anthem and two pupils read an excerpt from Josephine Trail's Child of the Arrow.
The 250 people who missed out on a seat inside the hall stood outside listening via loud speakers.
Mr English addressed the Arrowtown service, starting with a recollection of representing the Government at the funerals last year of young New Zealand soldiers who were killed while serving in Afghanistan.
He said after speaking to members of the New Zealand Defence Force, it struck him how similar the experiences are of ''today's young soldiers and those of 100 years ago''.
Arrowtown RSA president John Lindsay and the Rt Rev Dr David Coles also spoke.
Following the service, a pipe band led war veterans, servicemen and women and the crowd up the hill to the village's war memorial, where wreaths were laid.
Mr Lindsay said the crowd which had gathered on the hill to watch the laying of wreaths and leave their poppies was the largest he had seen.
Mr English told the Otago Daily Times it was ''a big crowd for a small town'' and to see tears rolling down people's cheeks on the hill was truly a moving moment.
Roxburgh
Wisps of early morning fog hung in the air and autumn leaves slowly drifted to the ground in the chilly breeze as people gathered at the Roxburgh children's playground.
At 7am, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, pipers Sam Darling, Alistair Forbes and Ken Bain led a parade from the town hall to the playground for the town's first dawn service in living memory.
On the hill above was the town's war memorial, reachable only by the able-bodied.
Roxburgh RSA president Andy Reed said it was ''heartening'' to see about 200 people ''from both ends of the [Teviot] Valley''.
Parade numbers were boosted by the likes of the volunteer fire brigade and St John volunteers, including cadets.
Guest speaker Graye Shattky, a former commander of the New Zealand SAS, paid tribute to those volunteers, as well as those who fought at Gallipoli.
He said the soldiers' experiences had been ''transformed into a convenient public fiction of nationalism arising from a glorious defeat'' and while Anzac would remain a legacy, that was a legacy of service.
''Perhaps this day is no longer just one for remembering those who have fallen in battle, but also a day when we acknowledge those unsung heroes among us - the volunteer firemen, first-aiders, care givers, community committees and the like, who serve us all without expectation of reward or recompense.''
The Pioneer Generation Brass Band was also there, playing between speakers.
Those at the service and spoken to by the Otago Daily Times said it was both brilliant and poignant.
As the ceremony ended and the crowd began to drift away, the three pipers climbed the hill to play a lament at the war memorial.
Wanaka
At least 300 people gathered on a calm and mild morning above the dam at Lake Hawea for yesterday's Anzac dawn service.
Co-ordinator Commander Lyal Cocks RNZN (retired) reminded those present of those who had ''put their lives on the line'' to help maintain New Zealand as a free and peaceful place.
Queenstown Mayor Vanessa van Uden said on Anzac Day New Zealanders needed to think exactly what the words ''thank you'' meant.
''We're thankful for being able to be here, for being able to chose the way we live ... that most of us will never have to go and face the horrors of war, for being allowed to think freely, speak freely, protest freely, learn freely ...
''And she said thanks were due not only to those who had fought overseas but to the families and friends of those who ''came back maimed or not at all''.
''Nobody should ever have had to go through any of those things. But they did. Not for themselves but for the people who came after them, us, and the future generations we create.''
Before the wreath-laying ceremony, Willow Strawson (10) read the list of names from the district who died serving New Zealand.
At the Wanaka service, Ms van Uden said Anzac Day this year was poignant in that New Zealand soldiers serving in Afghanistan had just returned home.
She noted 10 had died during that conflict, which served as a reminder that the country's involvement in war was not all in the distant past.
About 500 attended the service before a parade to the town's war memorial and a wreath-laying ceremony.
