Popular midwinter carnival turns into ticketed event and changes location
From reporter Hamish McNeilly:
The Dunedin Midwinter Carnival is one of the city’s most popular events, but organisers have changed the location and introduced ticketing to make it sustainable.
The annual event, traditionally held around the longest night of the year in the city's Octagon, will now take place over two nights – July 8 and 9 – at First Church on Moray Place.
“It is a little different to what we have done before,” Midwinter Trust chairperson Paul Smith said.
The event, which features giant lantern installations and large projections, is now in its 25th year, but Covid restrictions coupled with a rugby test between the All Blacks and Ireland prompted a new plan.
“We ended up adjusting the event, so it could go ahead, and that meant being able to control entry if we needed to.”
Being able to control entry meant it was now a ticketed event, likely to be limited to about 5000 people per night, and costing $5 a ticket.
A decision on what the event would look like in 2023 was yet to be made, Smith said.
“It would depend on the success of this year.”
Covering costs was essential as “these sorts of projects aren’t cheap”.
The $5 ticket price was similar to the ‘koha’ requested as a donation in previous events, which returned less than $10,000 last year.
“It has always been a tricky thing for us. Not everyone understands we are a small non-profit, and it is not the city council putting on the event, and so many volunteer hours go into it.”
The trust also had to store “these beautiful artworks ... and that is another thing that weighs on our minds”.
“We are constantly trying to find ways to make this event more sustainable ... and that is one of our responsibilities as trustees.”
Organisers planned to promote the event to audiences throughout Otago and Southland. Funding from Enterprise Dunedin’s Regional Events Fund had been secured as part of an effort to increase visitors from outside the city.
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Poll: Are Kiwis allergic to “exuberance”? 🥝
In The Post’s opinion piece on the developments set to open across Aotearoa in 2026, John Coop suggests that, as a nation, we’re “allergic to exuberance.”
We want to know: Are we really allergic to showing our excitement?
Is it time to lean into a more optimistic view of the place we call home? As big projects take shape and new opportunities emerge, perhaps it’s worth asking whether a little more confidence (and enthusiasm!) could do us some good.
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41.6% Yes
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31.8% Maybe?
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26.6% No
Police urge caution on Southland beaches
As the weather warms up and Southlanders begin flocking to the beach, Police are reminding people of an important fact – beaches are roads and need to be treated as such.
Senior Sergeant Scott MacKenzie, Southland Area Road Policing Manager, says while it is legal to drive on Oreti Beach, you still need to adhere to the road rules.
“The beach has a speed limit of 30k/h – there is no excuse to be over this limit.
The days are getting warmer and with school holidays it can be expected that a lot of families with small children and animals will be heading to the beach to enjoy the sun."
“Anyone driving on the beach needs to be mindful of this, and stay focused on your surroundings,” he says.
The risks of injury or worse, to yourself or others, are just the same as on traditional roads.
Senior Sergeant MacKenzie also reminds beach goers that any form of antisocial road-user behaviour will not be tolerated.
“Some people seem to think that road rules don’t apply to you when on the beach – this is not the case.
Antisocial driving behaviour is unacceptable, on and off the beach, and we encourage the community to report the driving behaviour immediately."
“It is best to make a report while the incident is occurring to allow our staff the opportunity to respond immediately and hopefully disrupt any offenders in the act.
Please take note of as much detail as possible, such as registration number of the vehicle, any identifying features of the vehicle and its driver, or even take a video of the driving behaviour if safe to do so,” he says.
You can report information to us by calling 111 if it is happening now, or through 105 for non-emergencies.
Alternatively, you can report information anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
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