Winter festivities a ‘real boost’ for resort

Abounding with liveliness, Queenstown’s Welcome to Winter celebrations brought lifeblood back to the resort at the weekend.

The four-day festival, organised by Destination Queenstown (DQ) as a celebration of all the town has to offer in the snowy months, saw thousands of people come out to enjoy markets, food stalls and live entertainment.

On Friday night, Earnslaw Park was packed with people, their faces upturned to a colourful fireworks display which was launched by 3-year-old Benji McGuirk after his mother, Krystle Anderson, won the button-press in an online charity auction.

For DQ chief executive Mat Woods, seeing the Dunedin family come up and get among the festivities encompassed the heart of the event.

"It was such fun to see this young 3-year-old be in the moment and it was a real highlight to see the local community come out and enjoy the fireworks."

Faces were aglow on Friday night at the Welcome to Winter fireworks display. PHOTO: STILL VISION...
Faces were aglow on Friday night at the Welcome to Winter fireworks display. PHOTO: STILL VISION/JACKIE GAY

Surrounding balconies, offices and hotels were also full of people enjoying the spectacle, which soon transitioned into a party on the foreshore as Mitch James took to the sound stage.

"Another component of Friday, which is quite cool, is there were definitely visitors to the region that weren’t aware of the event happening ... they were like, ‘wow, this is incredible’," Mr Woods said.

On Saturday, the bustle did not wane — downtown was kept busy by the Winter Wonderland Markets and the Whakatipu Legend Swim, which saw more than a dozen brave folk take a dip in the lake. While some layered up in wetsuits and swimming caps, others braved the icy water in board shorts and bathers for 500m and 1000m swims.

The rest of the celebrations included a Saturday night performance by Boh Runga and band Stellar, and yesterday the sun came out for a Superhero Sunday Ice Skate Party and Queenstown Preschool and Nursery’s Great Family Treasure Hunt.

While the turnout was difficult to put into exact numbers, Mr Woods said bars and restaurants were packed over the weekend, Earnslaw Park’s sound stage area was "completely full" and the treasure hunt was sold out.

"It was just a real boost for local community, domestic, and international visitors ... who just needed something like this to celebrate."

Acknowledging Queenstown’s recovery would be a long journey and some businesses continue to struggle with staffing constraints, he said the event showed that the demand for Queenstown was still there.

"This has just set the scene for the rest of winter, it’s been great."

--  lucy.wormald@odt.co.nz

 

 

 

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