Festival Week attractions

Press, 19 July 1983, Page 30

Festival Week attractions

Queenstown’s Winter Festival is the highlight of the skiing year. For a week each winter the town gives itself over completely to fun and merry-making with special events beind held both on the mountain and in the

streets. This year Winter Festival is scheduled for the week from July 30 to August 7 and the theme is the gold rush. Activities at lake level include a raft-paddle, a jet boat race and, for people with an iron-clad constitution, a swim in the icy waters of Lake Wakatipu. All the water sports have been organised for the same day this year, Tuesday August 2. As in other years the hotels will be dispensing their own individual types of hospitality. Several organise their own Swiss and Austrian national days with appropriate food, drink and entertainment. Contests and promotions of every description keep visitors entertained each night. The Festival Snow Queen contest is run along the lines of a traditional beauty pageant and the Bar Personality of the Year Award gives credit to the expertise of Queenstown’s many bar stewards. On the ski slopes of Coronet Peak the entertainment is equally varied. One of the most unusual events is the local farmers’ Sheepdog Derby.

Demonstrations, promotions and races on the Peak culminate in a week-end of fun for children on August 6 and 7 which involves a fancy dress party, treasure hunts, lolly scrambles and children’s ski races.