The stars came out to shine, in all senses of the word, at Matariki celebrations in Wanaka and Arrowtown at the weekend.
They were followed by popular Arrowtown musician Thomas Brinsley, who played to a crowd of about 300 as day turned to night under a cloudless sky.
Warm, spring-like conditions made two big driftwood fires almost redundant.
Arrowtown Preschool’s annual Matariki Night got off to a special start with performances by its pupils and the Arrowtown Primary School kapa haka group at its open-air venue in Buckingham Green yesterday.
Tom Winder puts a torch to one of the piles of driftwood on the shore of Lake Wanaka on Saturday. Event organiser Richard Richard Elvey, of Kahu Youth, looks on. PHOTO: MARK PRICE
On Saturday night, on the other side of the Crown Range, a crowd of thousands turned up for a Matariki celebration in Wanaka.
Arrowtown musician Thomas Brinsley entertains the crowd at Arrowtown Preschool’s Matariki Night at Buckingham Green yesterday. PHOTO: GUY WILLIAMS
