The Queenstown Winter Festival has been running in Queenstown, the Adventure Capital of New Zealand since 1975.

Winter Starts Here!

There is plenty to get excited about as the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest winter party, the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival gets into it from June 22nd to July 1st.

2012 will be the 38th year of this amazing party! The Festival celebrates the beginning of winter with a jam packed 10 day programme featuring some hilarious, possibly outrageous and definitely unique Queenstown events.

There are fireworks, an in town ice rink, comedy, drag races, birdman action, jazz, food and wine, street parades, family fun, a great mix of internationally acclaimed performers and home-grown acts, a Rail Jam and a ball – and that is just in town! Up on the mountain you can catch loads of winter action with ski races, mountain mayhem, dog races and superb entertainment. 2012 will herald the return of many favourites as well as an injection of fresh new events sure to get everyone in the party mood.

Since first being staged in 1975 by Queenstowner’s who thought the arrival of snow was a ‘great excuse for a party’, the Festival has evolved to forge a unique identity as New Zealand’s premier celebration of all things winter. Now an iconic event cemented on New Zealand’s calendar, it attracts tens of thousands of party seekers and injects a whopping $50 million back into the local economy.

The Festival gets underway in style on Friday June 22nd at the free American Express Opening Party with a spectacular fireworks display, live music, mulled wine, and plenty of laughs.

And I can tell you from personal experience that the Festival is a wonderful, fun event, that adds to the allure of Queenstown as a great holiday destination (click on the following link to learn more about the huge variety of year round Queenstown activities ).

Click on the following link to to find out more about the Queenstown Winter Festival.