Co-organiser Emmerson Wilken said they decided in 2024 to hold the 10-day fest every two years, so last year they held only the three-day McGazza Fest, still a full-on event.
The event is named in memory of local mountainbiking star Kelly "McGazza" McGarry who died 10 years ago next month, aged 33, after suffering a cardiac arrest while riding Queenstown’s Fernhill Loop.
"Only because McGazza Fest is so popular, and it’s a memorial thing for every year, it still works," Mr Wilken said.
He said funding this year had been "super-tough, but we’ve had quite a few of our long-standing sponsors step up, and a lot are actually Kelly’s previous sponsors, so that’s pretty cool to see".
Tomorrow features the fun log race, from 4pm, and spectacular lake jump, from 6.45pm — both beside Queenstown Bay’s Steamer Wharf.
Saturday includes Coro1200.
"That’s a full top-to-bottom of Coronet, down to the valley floor, like, 1200 metres of vert," Mr Wilken said.
Their aim was to cover costs, with any surplus going to the Queenstown Mountain Bike Club.
The main costs were medics and a media team that filmed all the action.
"People love to see the sort of stuff that happens during events — we get like hundreds of thousands of views on all our videos."
