Winter events

Winter is just around the corner in New Zealand. The reversed seasons in the Southern Hemisphere bring people from all over the world to ski and snow board in the off-season. To add to the wintry charms there are a variety of events in the big snow centers, Tongariro National Park in the North Island and Christchurch, Wanaka and Queenstown in the South.

The biggest and best-known winter festival is the Queenstown Winter Festival. With big events up in the mountains and also down at town level the festival is a busy time in vibrant Queenstown. There are 60 events on the calendar this year all fun to participate in or to watch. Floats, costumed characters, and live events are part of the masked parade Mardi Gras. 10 team events are part of the perennial favourite - The Classic Challenge. Some of the better known events that make up the Classic Challenge include; The Bird Man - contestants emulate Daedelus and make wings and try to fly close to the sun, until now all have ended up in lake Wakatipu but the one who gets the furthermost from the wharf wins, also well known is the Undy 500 running race where athletes display their fine physiques as they run through the streets of Queenstown in their underpants. The festival runs from July 1st through to July 10th.

Wanaka Fest in Wanaka runs from September 14th to 18th and features a street parade, live music, the wheelie bin challenge as well as the unique running of the sheep through the streets of the town. Wanaka is also getting a lot of attention for a less orthodox attraction. Amid the bronze hills of the Cadrona Valley the “Bra Fence” has gained a lot of support from women passing by and now 300m of fence is draped with over 1000 bras. In spite of the occasional bit of furtive theft the Bra Fence is now a well-established local attraction. The local farmer who owns the fence (and also owns New Zealand’s only cross country ski area, the “The Waiorau Snow Farm”) has no idea why this charming custom began or how long it will continue.

In August, “The Christchurch Winter Carnival” also offers sightseeing some winter delights but far from the southern snows sub-tropical Auckland has just opened it’s first ski field. “Snow Planet” is the only all year round resort in the Southern Hemisphere and boasts a 200 m slope and a 30 degree incline which puts it among the steepest of indoor snow slopes globally.