Business As Usual for Queenstown Winter Festival

Business As Usual for American Express Queenstown Winter Festival.

Queenstown. 1.40 pm Thursday, June 18, 2015.

The current snowfall in the South Island has not slowed preparations for the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival and its business as usual for tomorrow’s American Express Opening Party and Fireworks.

The heavy snow has come as a bonus for the surrounding ski fields and so far has not affected the Queenstown town centre. International and New Zealand performers flying in for the Festival are all on track to arrive today – in spite of some earlier flight delays at Queenstown Airport.

“We welcome the snow … it’s what we are all about” said Festival Manager Lisa Buckingham. “The snow is great news for the ski fields and Queenstown will look amazing for the start of the Festival tomorrow afternoon.”

“We have contingency plans to cover all eventualities” said Lisa Buckingham. “We need to concentrate on managing the weather and keeping Festival goers safe – but so far we’ve experienced no delays in the construction of the various Festival event locations.”

The Festival is the largest winter festival in the Southern Hemisphere and attracts over 45,000 people to Queenstown each year, contributing over $55 million into the local economy. In its 41 year history the Festival has never been cancelled due to snow or bad weather. American Express Queenstown Winter Festival organisers have the ability to change the individual event schedule in the case of extreme weather presenting safety or transport issues.

Organisers will meet early tomorrow morning to review the weather situation which is being closely monitored.

Weather and Festival updates will be posted to the official website www.winterfestival.co.nz

ENDS

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