Rain cannot ‘dampen' festival enthusiasm
Dunedin Midwinter Carnival installation assistant Adele Cleverley takes a five-minute break as lanterns are installed at First Church in Moray Pl for today and tomorrow's carnival. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY
The Dunedin Midwinter Carnival will not let the forecast wet weather "dampen" an amazing event this weekend.
Today and tomorrow, First Church is set to be transformed into a glowing display of everything fantastical and winged as the Dunedin Midwinter Carnival returns.
However, this weekend, a deluge of rain is forecast to hit Dunedin.
There was a possibility for warning amounts of rain to accumulate in Dunedin and north Otago tomorrow.
Carnival marketing manager Jess Covell said it was not going to let a little rain "dampen what [was] going to be an amazing couple of evenings".
"It is still forging ahead as far as I'm aware — but it won't be the first time that it's rained, and I'm sure it won't be the last time."
The first time the carnival moved to First Church, it had rained, and it just meant some displays had needed to be moved indoors or canned, but the night was just as good as always, she said.
The theme of the festival this year is Wings of Wonder, which would feature New Zealand native birds, mythical creatures that soared through the sky and small critters such as the classic butterfly.
"There's an incredible dragon that's been made to breathe smoke; that has taken hundreds of hours of time to do."
This year, the carnival collaborated with third-year design students from the Otago Polytechnic who had created a series of exciting interactive installations.
One of the installations was made to align with the Puaka Matariki Festival.
People would be able to write their wishes for the new year upon a star they had hand-made, and then to post it to the corresponding Matariki star that it related to.
"[The students have] done a really incredible job, and it was such a joy to work with them ... I think they got a lot out of it as well."
laine.priestley@odt.co.nz
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