Oamaru's annual Victorian heritage celebrations begin today with a heritage race meeting at the Oamaru Racecourse.
Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton will defend his title in the celebrity sulky race, competing against Queen of Victorian Oamaru Julie Walker, North Otago rugby and cricket representative Dave Simpson and heritage celebrations committee chairwoman Sally Hope.
The celebrations will be officially launched at 1.55pm with the arrival of the penny-farthing tour from Kaiapoi.
There will be races based on the theme of brother-brother pairs and featuring Clark and Ken Barron (Southland and Canterbury), David and Philip Butcher (Waikato), John and Dexter Dunn (Canterbury), Gerard and Leo O'Reilly (Canterbury), Nathan and Matthew Williamson (Southland and Otago) and Darryl and Glenn Douglas (Australia).
There will also be Kidz Kartz races, with junior harness racing drivers competing with ponies, and Victorian fashion-in-the-field awards.
Tomorrow, Oamaru's very own Victorian domestic goddess, Marise Martin, will embark on an adventure to India in her annual presentation, and the Swaggers and Servants dance will also be held.
On Friday, Peter Entwisle will deliver the Forrester and Lemon Memorial Lecture at the Opera House at 12.30pm, titled "Palladio in North Otago - reconnecting some Waitaki buildings to their Renaissance origins".
A garden party will be held in the afternoon, with the heritage ball at night.
On Saturday, there will be a street parade, trolley derby and national penny-farthing and veteran cycle championships, with the Victorian fete on Sunday.
