The stars came out to shine, in all senses of the word, at Matariki celebrations in Wanaka and Arrowtown at the weekend.

Arrowtown Preschool’s annual Matariki Night got off to a special start with performances by its pupils and the Arrowtown Primary School kapa haka group at its open-air venue in Buckingham Green yesterday.

Tom Winder puts a torch to one of the piles of driftwood on the shore of Lake Wanaka on Saturday. Event organiser Richard Richard Elvey, of Kahu Youth, looks on. PHOTO: MARK PRICE

They were followed by popular Arrowtown musician Thomas Brinsley, who played to a crowd of about 300 as day turned to night under a cloudless sky.

On Saturday night, on the other side of the Crown Range, a crowd of thousands turned up for a Matariki celebration in Wanaka.

Arrowtown musician Thomas Brinsley entertains the crowd at Arrowtown Preschool’s Matariki Night at Buckingham Green yesterday. PHOTO: GUY WILLIAMS

Warm, spring-like conditions made two big driftwood fires almost redundant.