Otago's gold heritage will be celebrated at the third Dunedin Heritage Festival, to be held next year.
"Layers of Gold" will complement celebrations in Lawrence at Gabriels Gully to be held during Otago Anniversary weekend, from March 18 to 21.
"Dunedin was built on layers of gold.
It was through the discovery of gold in Gabriels Gully in 1861 that the city was developed," festival director Sue Clarke said.
"Dunedin was the gateway to the Otago goldfields and we are working with the organisers of the Gabriels Gully Goldrush 150th celebrations to create synergy with our line-up of events to ensure that both Dunedin and Lawrence benefit from the other's promotion."
The festival will mark 150 years since the discovery of the first payable gold in New Zealand.
The celebration will also acknowledge some of New Zealand's most successful companies, which were founded in Dunedin during the gold rush, such as the Otago Daily Times, the Bank of New Zealand and Cerebos Greggs, and the Otago Chamber of Commerce, and will also be celebrating their 150th anniversaries next year.
"Layers of Gold is collaborating with these businesses with a view to adding value to their respective celebrations while, at the same time, enriching the festival," Ms Clarke said.
"The overwhelming significance of this anniversary for Dunedin's heritage is expected to attract interest both at home and abroad.
"We are planning some visually exciting and original events, that will appeal to locals and draw visitors to the city."
Events would include a tall ship sailing up Otago Harbour, a goldminers' tent city at Gabriels Gully, an exhibition in the old Bank of New Zealand building in Princes St and a focus on the city's Victorian and Edwardian buildings.
"These events will represent the start of the gold rush. We were the gateway to goldminers who came here and got on the road to Lawrence and Gabriels Gully," Ms Clarke said.
The combined population of Otago and Southland was fewer than 7000 people before the discovery of gold in 1861.
Within 10 years, it was nearly 70,000.
The influx of people from New Zealand and overseas brought prosperity to the region and saw Dunedin transformed from a small and struggling settlement into New Zealand's most prosperous and influential city.
"In celebrating the city's past, we'll be able to reflect on Dunedin's gold-rush era and the legacy that makes it such a vital city today," Ms Clarke said.
