A five-hour planning session has set the foundation for this year's Oamaru Victorian Heritage Celebrations from November 14-18, and the following two years.
The new chairman of the organising committee, Peter Amyes, said committee members would be taking on even more tasks for the celebrations, as financial limitations meant a paid co-ordinator, used in previous years, was not available.
"It is a significant commitment by each committee member in time and energy," he said.
The five-day celebrations are the biggest on Oamaru's calendar, attracting thousands to heritage events culminating in the Victorian fete on the Sunday.
The Waitaki District Council assisted financially, an army of volunteers gave time and expertise at various events, local businesses contributed sponsorship, dressing in theme and participating in the shop window competition and the general public attended activities in costume, he said.
One aim was to reconnect the celebrations with the rural sector, developing events to do this over the coming months.
Themes had been selected for the next three years, including.
• This year - Dickens: Celebrating the 200 anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens - generally considered the greatest novelist of the Victorian period;
• Next year - Victorian Explorers: The centenary return of the Terra Nova to Oamaru carrying news of the death of Robert Falcon Scott and 120 years of women's suffrage;
• 2014 - Victorian Transportation: Horses and early vehicles, mainly steam.
While new events were planned, cornerstone events from previous years would be retained, including the upstairs function (The Victorian Ball), downstairs function (servants' knees-up), the street parade, promenade, garden party and penny-farthing races, with some new activities intertwined with them, Mr Amyes said.
The committee welcomed input from individuals and groups wishing to participate in an already planned event or create a new one.
A website and Facebook page is being developed to highlight the development of the celebrations.
