Queenstown Winter Festival Closes with Spectacular Community Carnival

The 10 day American Express Queenstown Winter Festival comes to a spectacular close this evening with the Auckland Airport Community Carnival.

Acts from all over the world make the up the Carnival elements which also include local musicians, artists and comedy performers. Thousands of visitors and locals were streaming into the town centre up to three hours before the Carnival started at 4.00 pm.

“It’s been one of our best Festivals ever” said Lisa Buckingham, Festival Manager. “We’ve had amazing snow in the mountains and sunny, clear conditions in the Queenstown town centre. Reaction to the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival events has been extremely positive and skiers up on the slopes have been telling us that it’s one of the best early season experiences they can remember.”

Early fears of too much snow at low levels disappeared late last week when the white stuff covered both the Remarkables and Coronet Peak ski fields but left Queenstown town centre relatively snow free. “We’ve seen Queenstown at its very best over the past 10 days” said Lisa Buckingham. “The Festival has showcased the adventurous side of Queenstown up in the mountains and also highlighted our artistic side down in the town. That’s what Queenstown is, a cocktail of those two heady Kiwi ingredients.”

Early indications are that the Festival has seen increases in visitor numbers and solid spending with local businesses. In spite of challenging, icy conditions there was little disruption at Queenstown Airport throughout the Festival with restaurants and hotels all operating at near capacity.

Over 50 events were successfully staged during the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival which started life 41 years ago as a celebration of what was then the quiet season. Now the Festival is a celebration of Winter which attracts global media attention and visitors from every corner of the planet.

The American Express Queenstown Winter Festival attracts over 45,000 people each year, generating over $55 million for the local economy.

ENDS

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