Fewer drink-drivers were apprehended by police during the last weekend of the Queenstown Winter Festival but a man had to have stitches to his head at Lakes District Hospital after a brawl on Camp St.
The victim was allegedly shoved into a window of retail shop Peter Alexander during a fight involving a "large group", police said. The window was broken.
Sergeant Steve Watt, of Queenstown, said the victim had been drinking and did not know his attackers or why they attacked.
A 33-year-old Queenstown man was charged with assault and a 24-year-old Queenstown man was charged with disorderly behaviour in relation to an altercation outside Night'n Day.
Sgt Watt said police believed the fight was probably related to the victim's injuries and a large group fighting outside Peter Alexander.
A Starbucks window was also broken.
In a separate incident, three men were arrested for disorder after allegedly fighting outside Night'n Day, at 4.45am on Friday.
Two of the men were Britons residing in Queenstown, aged 26 and 29.
Two Queenstown men (both aged 18) were arrested for disorderly behaviour outside the World Bar at 1.40am Sunday.
In contrast, on Mardi Gras night, last Tuesday, there had only been two drunken revellers who needed detoxification at the police station, and a croissant was taken from Night'n Day, Sgt Watt said.
Ploice in Queenstown, highway patrol officers, the Alexandra-based Rural Drink Drive Group and the Invercargill-based Southern Traffic Alcohol Group set up compulsory breath-testing checkpoints on routes into town, including Frankton Rd and Stanley St.
Officers processed seven motorists for drink-driving between Thursday and yesterday, compared with 17 between June 25 and 27.
Sgt Watt said the number of people apprehended on the festival's opening night was disappointing.
However, the weekend tally represented a "substantially better result".
"We hope the message is out - you will be stopped, you will be breath-tested, anytime, anywhere."
