The annual event held at First Church and its surrounding grounds has had a bit of a revamp, and publicist Jess Covell said this year’s theme was a "rustle in the night".
"So, that’s all your nocturnal creatures ... like critter crawlers [and] spiders and things like that.
"There are multiple installations around the site, as per usual."
This includes a new aerial work developed by Doug Ditfort and costumier/performance co-ordinator Rochelle Brophy.
Inspired by geckos, skinks, moths and the hidden life that emerges after dark, the piece explores the world of native nocturnal creatures through aerial dance, storytelling and live taoka pūoro.
"It’s the story of the moth and the lizards," Ms Brophy said.
"They don’t like each other at first, but eventually they become friends."
Ms Brophy said audiences should be prepared for something "spectacular" from the aerial dancers, who have been training for the past two months for the carnival performance.
The Dunedin Midwinter Carnival will be staged tonight and tomorrow across two sessions — 5.30pm to 7pm and 7.30pm to 9pm — with a low-sensory session tomorrow from 4pm to 5pm.
"Both of those main time slots have exactly the same programme. And the programme is the same every session across the entire weekend, so no-one misses out on anything," Ms Covell said.
The parade of lanterns, dancers and musicians is returning.
"People really love the spectacle of the big parade ... We’ve got some drummers and, hopefully, some brass. I saw some mutterings about a tuba player."
Combined with the lanterns and dancers, this should be "quite a spectacle", Ms Covell said.
Last year’s events were hampered by poor weather, but this time around the weather forecast for the weekend looks promising.
"Our lanterns are a lot more robust now to resist the weather conditions. I think it’s all very exciting."
