At least 21 mushers have registered to put their teams through their paces in early morning events today, tomorrow and on Saturday.
Yesterday, several canine competitors conducted an amiable meet and greet with the public at the Wanaka showgrounds.
Six huskies from Mel Quinn’s Alpine Kennels in Greymouth particularly lapped up the adoration.
That’s because the pet purebreds regularly attend dog shows. Monkey (6) and Sonic (4) are both best-in-show winners.
They and Tala (3), Whispa (1), and Rage (2) are descended from the team matriarch, US-bred Apple (10).
The dogs have competed on land before and Sonic has a Sled Dog Excellence certificate.
But the team and their musher, Chris Gillespie, are all snow racing novices.
Their first outing on snow was at yesterday’s practice.
"It was so exciting. Scary. All the emotions ran through. But it was awesome to be out there doing it," Mr Gillespie said.
Wanaka Sled Dog Festival race co-ordinator Stacey Looser, of Oxford, said spectators were welcome but should be "nice and early" as the first team would be out every day at 7.30am and all teams should be back in by 9am.Sarah Campbell, of Dunedin, is a regular participant at the festival.
Mrs Campbell had been introducing her new pup, Foxy, to the snow for the first time, but not as a racer.
"Foxy is nearly 14 weeks old. She’s been with us for about 12 days and she ventured over from Perth and Australia ... She’s here purely for spectating and learning and finding out what it is all about."
The festival is the only South Island snow racing opportunity for dogs.
All competitors were members of either the South Island Siberian Husky Club or the Southern Region Sled Dog Club.
Usually, three or four teams from Australia would enter, but that was not possible this year because of Covid.
"They will still be watching, glued to any live feeds."
