Calls to bring back winter festival of old

Calls to bring back the original community-style Queenstown Winter Festival aimed at providing fun for locals have the backing of many of the festival’s early founders and organisers, happy to get involved.

With no festival this year, delighted fireworks fans responded favourably to luxury shopping brand T Galleria by DFS’ announcement of a fireworks celebration on June 30 to herald the start of winter. That’s sparked calls from festival-loving locals to bring back the real deal, started almost 50 years ago in 1975, as was the intention then, focusing on locals, no big budgets needed.

Legendary long-time Queenstown events man and entertainer Peter Doyle, who first came up with the idea of a Winter Festival over a beer with then Eichardt’s publican Laurie Wilde, says it can be done.

Others who created hugely successful festival events in the early days agree.

“It can be organised like we used to with a bunch of locals doing it for the community without spending huge amounts of money,” says Peter.

The Suitcase Race was always a popular event

The first festival was held in the first week of August to create winter fun for locals. Over the years the event morphed into a vehicle to attract visitors to the town, held in late June targeting school holidays, with airlines among the major sponsors. ”It was never designed to herald the start of winter or attract people,” says Peter.

Visitors in town would love it though, grabbing a good vantage point for hilarious events like the Cow Pat Throwing Competition, Waiters’ Race, Spaghetti Eating, Birdman, Splash For Cash, Dog Barking, Gumboot Tossing and Drag Race – a lunchtime must featuring some very convincing, well known Queenstown males.

“We just held a bit of a meeting each year and clubs and organisations like the rugby club and Lions put up an idea each then ran their own event, sometimes as a fundraiser.”

“The Mardi Gras was a wonderful family-style fundraiser for the likes of school PTA’s running apple crumble stalls.”

“You can do an awful lot for nothing if you can get the community behind you,” says Peter. “As soon as you start paying organisations everybody wants some money and the thing dies.” If the district council got on board waiving some of the fees for venues and grounds it would be very cheap to run.”

Now in his 70s it’s time for ‘new blood’ but he’s happy to offer any expertise that’s needed if the community wants to revive the festival of old. Two key ingredients – an opening fireworks display – ‘that’s what the festival is’, and a celebration like a ball, he says. “The Old Farts Ball was the locals’ event.”

“It’s not that hard. You can still do these things despite OSH and insurances. There would be no need to apply for street closures for the likes of Mardi Gras with the streets now pedestrianised.”

One festival fan has even suggested a ‘cone sculpture’ contest to give the programme a 2020s vibe.

But the drag race has probably seen its day . . .

Ann and John Mann ran hit festival shows aimed at locals over 10 days for 19 years – the hugely popular Old Farts Ball, sell-out Top Bloke, restoring many a fractured male ego on stage, Outrageous Arts and Family Arts and Variety Shows drawing hundreds. Their Senior Citizens’ three-course lunch, tables waited by local schoolkids, covered all sectors of the community.

“I’ve been gobsmacked at the thanks still from the numbers in the community we’ve touched,” says Ann. If the right people wanted to be involved she’d love to help organise something just for the community. “Our formats worked.” Local businesses were always happy to stump up a Top Bloke entrant. “Every moment was outrageous,” grins Ann. Slowly locals were taken over by more corporate events, she says. “I believe events for the town are best if they’re put together by locals. Even if everybody put some energy into some small thing it would be amazing.”

Former Queenstown Promotion Bureau general manager Fraser Skinner took over the festival for a while with employer Skyline’s support before it was run by the QPB during his time there, then handed to its first paid co-ordinator, Phillipa Moore, in 1987. The first Mardi Gras was held in Queenstown Mall in 1980 during Fraser’s reign with the street party crowd all handed rubbish bags to clean up afterwards.

Founding Queenstown Promotion Board president Stuart Maclean says gradually the event was used to attract visitors to the town. “I suspect it then became a lot more professional and didn’t have the silly things, but sometimes being silly can be fun.”

 

An early promotional poster

The last 10-day Winter Festival was held in 2018 costing $1million and DQ boss Mat Woods says DQ was no longer able to underwrite it.

A 4-day Welcome to Winter celebration was held in 2019, but Covid interruptions have meant the festival hasn’t been held since.

Fans have suggested a meeting be called soon for those interested in re-starting a locals’ festival for next year.

 

Jeff Hylton and Bruce Leitch with their Winter Festival True Grit – Avanti Peak to Park Relay Team in the 1990s

 

Is that a real gun? Doug Champion (foreground) and Britiannia co-owner Roger Goddard (left rear) during a Queenstown Winter Festival Parade in the 1980s

 

Crowds pack into O'Connell's Pavilion back in the day for the popular Queenstown Winter Festival Spaghetti Eating Contest. Peter Doyle compering (centre)

 

The Dog Derby was always popular

 

And fiercely contested

 

Here are some snippets from the original programme, which also had some corporate sponsors - Coca Cola no less

 

 

 

And there was still plenty of fun to be had when at the Winter Festival in recent years, at the Mitre10 Raft Race

 

And the 70s disco