Chance to pelt people with coloured powder

Tash Falk.
Tash Falk.
Queenstowners will be able to pelt each other with powder next year during the resort's inaugural Colour Burst Run.

The event - already popular in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch - will be held on February 28 at the Queenstown Events Centre.

Queenstown Lakes District Council recreation programmes co-ordinator Tash Falk said the idea for the run, which can be walked, came from India's Holi Festival, also known as the festival of colour.

Participants dressed in white would be given a bag of non-toxic coloured powder - made from cornstarch and food colouring - and make their way through the 4km course established around the Events Centre, pelting each other with powder at will.

Unlike many events, there would be no timer running and no prizes awarded for the first across the line, Ms Falk said.

"It's going viral in New Zealand ... and it just hasn't been done here, so we thought 'why not?' she said.

"Our focus is programmes - to make community involvement and fun things like [the run] increase, so we thought 'let's do it'.

"It's more than an experience than a race [and] it's Queenstown's first, which we're pretty excited about.''

Ms Falk said Queenstown Lakes residents would be targeted for the first event, but she hoped it would grow in future years and attract participants from across the country.

Tickets bought before February 16 would cost $35 per adult and $20 per child, with children under 5 free - after that date, ticket prices would increase by $5.

The price included a registration pack containing a bag of colour and a t-shirt.

All profits would go towards programmes run by the council, such as Step Up, a youth programme for high-risk children; Leisurelies, a programme for people aged 65 and over; and the Kids Games, run annually for primary school pupils.

Ms Falk said if it was successful the council aimed to give a percentage of the profit made in future years to local charities.

tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz

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