Lake Wanaka SouNZ Incorporated (LWSI) wants resource consent for an "old fashioned" music function to be held every second year at Ruby Island, on alternate years from its popular Rippon music festival.
The event would recapture the revelry of the original Ruby Island Cabaret, which ran Saturday night dances in the late 1920s and early 1930s on a dance floor made from Makarora beech, with music supplied by a gramophone.
A kitchen, small shop, toilets and accommodation also once stood on the island.
LWSI director Lynne Christie said the idea of bringing back the cabaret was not new. In 1984, when she first heard of the dances, the "imagination was fired up".
Nearly three decades later, LWSI put a proposal to the Ruby Island Trust - the recipient of the proposed event's profits - which gave its approval.
"It's certainly an exciting opportunity to have a go at resurrecting this function." The event, which would emphasise preservation of the land, aimed to bring people together to celebrate music, land and history, while remaining true to the original functions. Period costumes were "encouraged".
Patrons would be ferried to the island by boat like the old days and music played would be reminiscent of the 1930s to 1950s, jazz, ragtime, cabaret, Dixieland, blues, and rock 'n' roll. The Roseneath Centennial Ragtime Band, from Wellington, has already been confirmed.
A temporary tearooms would be installed for the event, along with a semi-permanent rustic-looking stage at the site of the old kitchen, which could remain for use by future island visitors.
LWSI was interested in hearing from people who remembered the original cabaret, so homage could be paid to those events in a special audio-visual area.
If consent is granted, helicopters would be needed to transport items like portaloos, generators, and a piano to the island, Ms Christie said.
The first Cabaret on Ruby event would be on February 3 next year, from 5.30pm to 11pm, with 200 tickets available.
