Last night, as the clock struck seven, thousands of people were gathered in Earnslaw Park, rugged up against the cold, as a fireworks display boomed over the CBD to celebrate the winter months.
Dunedin’s Benji McGuirk got the party started, pushing the button to launch the fireworks after his mother, Krystle Anderson, won the privilege in an online auction.
"It was for charity ... and I thought it would be really cool to push the button," Ms Anderson said.
Ms Anderson topped the bids at $1500. The funds will go towards the Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge, a fundraiser for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand.
The fireworks display opened with a love heart, then got bigger and bigger with a huge crescendo and green and purple cascading embers to finish.
Following the spectacle, an equally explosive performance by Kiwi musician Mitch James got under way to the cheers of adoring fans.
The festival has been organised by Destination Queenstown, whose chief executive, Mat Woods, said he was excited to welcome everyone back into Queenstown’s CBD to celebrate winter and everything the resort had to offer through the season.
"It’s just exciting to see snow on the hills, to see all of the domestic New Zealand holidaymakers here, to see the Australian holidaymakers here, and just to be celebrating [winter] again. And actually having a live performance again in downtown Queenstown, that’s awesome," Mr Woods said.
The weekend’s schedule is packed, with the Winter Wonderland Market and food trucks set up in The Mall and Earnslaw Park both days, the Whakatipu Legend Welcome to Winter Swim this afternoon, Boh Runga and band Stellar this evening, and the Superhero Sunday Ice Skate Party and Queenstown Preschool and Nursery’s Great Family Treasure Hunt tomorrow.
Thursday night’s fresh dump of snow on Queenstown’s Coronet Peak and the Remarkables could not have been timed better as Coronet Peak was running two consecutive night ski sessions yesterday and today from 4pm, Mr Woods said.
"[The weather] really came to the party ... I think that’s kind of beautiful."
He hoped crowds over the weekend would have "a little bit of patience" with ongoing staffing issues.
"We do know that a lot of the businesses are short-staffed, and then we’ve also got Covid and other illnesses going on ... but you’re on holiday, enjoy it — you’re going to still get that glass of wine or cup of coffee," Mr Woods said.
Looking ahead, he anticipated the next two weeks would remain busy as the New Zealand school holidays got under way and he expected visitor numbers to remain steady into August.
