Queenstown gets behind new winter celebration
The return of a new Queenstown Winter Festival-inspired event – Snow Fest – has officially heralded the start to winter, with event organisers toasting its success.
Snow Fest concluded on Saturday after a two-day programme of sold-out community events that gave a nod to the much-loved former Winter Festival, which ran annually from 1975-2023.
Instigated by NZSki and supported by local partners across the business and tourism sectors, Snow Fest was made possible by Coronet Peak’s Snow Factory snowmaking technology, which produces snow at any air temperature and has enabled skiing to open earlier than ever before in Queenstown.
While Coronet Peak and The Remarkables ski areas don’t fully open until June 13, Snow Fest is designed to bring the community together and celebrate the energy and importance of winter to the region.
Snow Fest kicked off with the Watershed Polar Plunge on Friday, May 29, which saw 100 people brave the chill of Lake Whakatipu for an early morning dip. The Queenstown Business Chamber business lunch was a sold-out event, with 170 people converging on Skyline Queenstown to hear a panel of speakers discuss the theme ‘there’s no business like snow business’.
Later that evening, hundreds of people packed out the Ballarat-Stanley Streets carpark to watch 60 athletes take part in the downtown Rail Jam, with snow brought down from Coronet Peak for the event.
Saturday May 30 provided fun for the whole family at Coronet Peak, with the Outside Sports Snow Dig and the madcap Queenstown Airport Corporation Suitcase Race, along with kids’ snow play, prizes, face painting and family activities. Snow Fest wrapped up with a DJ, happy‑hour beers and ski pass giveaways at a relaxed après‑ski session at Altitude Brew Room.
“This is not an NZSki festival – it is Queenstown’s festival,” NZSKi CEO Paul Anderson says. “If we can all collaborate as businesses to bring people into town, bring locals together, the more chance we have of Snow Fest growing as an event into the future to keep putting Queenstown on the map.
“We all stand to benefit as a community when we work together. Our goal with Snow Fest is to reignite community spirit, and harness the vibe and energy that was synonymous with Winter Festival. We are thrilled with how the community has got behind the inaugural Snow Fest, and we look forward to watching it grow into the future.”
NZSki staff are now preparing for full winter operations to commence with the opening of Coronet Peak and The Remarkables on Saturday, June 13. The company’s third ski area, Mt Hutt in Canterbury, opens on Friday, June 12.
