With about 20,000 students coming to the party, it had better be a good one.
Luckily, planning for Ori10, this year's Otago University Students Association Orientation, started in October.
Events manager Vanessa Reddy said the task of putting together the package of activities and gigs to welcome students to Dunedin was placed on the shoulders of four enthusiastic people.
Planning started with a meeting to discuss what bands the group wanted to perform and what other events could be put on to entertain the masses.
"We really want to set a fun tone," Ms Reddy said.
Sarah Comer was charged with organising the highlights of Orientation - the bands.
Securing bands often came down to which were in Dunedin, or New Zealand, at the time and would be willing to add an extra date to their tour.
Local bands were also favoured to "give them a chance to play to a big audience", she said.
Fresh ideas for the first-year competition were thrown about, with many old favourites making a repeat appearance on the list of challenges to find an overall winner of a package of prizes.
From there it came down to discussions with band managers, technicians and security staff, and the hiring of volunteers and assistants to ensure everything ran smoothly.
"It's a team effort, and it's hard work," Ms Reddy said.
While they were all "a little bit tired", they were excited about what the fortnight of events would bring.
This year, bands included Health (of Los Angeles), Killer Queenz (from Australia) and New Zealand favourites The Mint Chicks, Smashproof and Midnight Youth.
While the always-entertaining hypnotist would again make an appearance, the comedy show had been stepped up, with media-loving Ben Hurley and Steve Wrigley in the line-up.
The first-year competition would include abseiling, box wars, horizontal bungy and a karaoke dance item, all with a Hawaiian theme.
After putting all the effort in to get the events off the ground, the team rarely had a chance to fully appreciate the talents on show as they were busy ensuring everyone was having a safe and fun time.
However, Ms Comer simply loved "seeing all the people" and getting to welcome them in.
