On Friday night, two truckloads of snow were transported from Cardrona Alpine Resort to Wanaka Airport and dumped on the grassy area in front of the Warbirds & Wheels cafe.
The impromptu winter wonderland was the idea of the cafe barista, Shane Stobie.
"I discovered a lot of children in Wanaka don’t have the opportunity to go up the mountain to experience snow, so I thought why not bring the snow down here?"
Mr Stobie came up with idea about a fortnight ago and both the airport and all the local airport businesses were very supportive.
"The idea just took off. You could say it snowballed."
Mr Stobie contacted Maungatua Contracting, which delivered a truckload of 6cum and another of 9cum of snow to the airport on Friday evening.
The next morning more than 50 children of all ages arrived with their parents to climb, slide and play in the snow, many of the very young ones touching the "white stuff" for the first time.
Mr Stobie said by mid-morning 12 snow people had been made and more were on the way.
"We’ve had some wonderfully creative kids here today and some very creative parents. I’m seeing a lot of snow people in bras, which I was not expecting," Mr Stobie said.
Prizes were awarded at the end of the day.
It was the first time the winter wonderland playground had been held at the airport and, following its success, Mr Stobie hoped it would become an annual event.
