Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said the ''great atmosphere'' in the Historic Precinct at Sunday's Victorian Fete was created by visitors and locals ''just embracing the opportunity to have fun''.
''[Oamaru is] full of interesting, quirky people who really enjoy what they are doing and, to be honest, add another dimension to what we have here,'' Mr Kircher said.
• Slideshow: The Victorian Fete and Heritage Festival
''The amount of interest that we get from those imaginative locals ... it's why Oamaru is seen as being 'The Coolest Town in New Zealand' ... it's all those things that those quirky people bring.''
The Oamaru Whitestone Civic Trust heritage co-ordinator and fete convener Faye Ormandy did not have attendance numbers for the day but called it ''a superb crowd'' and said the number of people taking in the day's entertainment and roughly 125 stalls was roughly the same as last year, despite the cool spring weather.
''Do I have a favourite part of the day? Just when I see the crowds pouring in and know that it's going to be a good day,'' Mrs Ormandy said.
''Oamaru people are so incredibly generous and supportive ... but we are pulling people from all over.''
The costumed fete-goers were not only Oamaruvians, but visitors from other parts of New Zealand and overseas. Oamaru's Steampunk set and this year's celebration theme of ''Alice in Wonderland'' had allowed many this year to embrace their weirdness.
''There's not many other places that you can just be way out - and I think Oamaru embraces that and loves it, even though we are quite conservative,'' Mrs Ormandy said.
On Saturday, in the lead-up to the final day of the celebrations, the Grand Street Parade drew a couple of thousand spectators to the footpaths in Oamaru's centre.
Bob (89) and Jean (86) Wouldes, of Kaiapoi, were there for their ninth year. The Wouldes missed the celebrations last year after the couple came to town and Mrs Wouldes suffered a stroke. She spent five days in Oamaru Hospital as a result.
The couple, who have just celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary, wear costumes made by Mrs Wouldes every year.
And although they have often taken part in the parade, this year they were happy as spectators, marvelling at the costumes and waving to friends they had made, since stumbling on the parade for the first time by accident after spending a night in Oamaru at the campground.
At the 21st Heritage Bicycle Championship, Neil Plunket, of Christchurch, formerly of Oamaru, said he knew he had not been out riding his pennyfarthing since the competition last year - his number from the 2014 event was still attached to his bike when he arrived in Oamaru.
But Mr Plunket, once the Whitestone Civic Trust's project manager, said he relished his returns to his hometown.
''It's just fun - that's what it's all about,'' he said.
