Lord Provost Donald Wilson - equivalent to a mayor - and Lady Provost Elaine Brand, joined Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull, Dunedin City Council chief executive Dr Sue Bidrose and about 20 invited guests at the lunch at Toitu Otago Settlers Museum on Saturday.
Mr Wilson was in Dunedin on a break from the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Wellington.
‘‘I've been showing the Lord Provost some of the landmarks around the city,'' Mr Cull said.
‘‘It's a real privilege and pleasure. It goes without saying how much we value our relationship with our sister city Edinburgh.''
After a tour of the museum, which included bumping into Amanda Lamont, the mayor of Amersham, in England, who was on a cruise ship visit, Mr Cull, the Lord Provost and guests were treated to a performance by a Logan Park High School band.
Strangs, Strings and Company opened the lunch with a musical rendition of the Robbie Burns poem Ae Fond Kiss.
In a speech to guests at the lunch, Mr Cull said it was important to maintain links to ‘‘our sister city''.
The city council formed the link with Edinburgh in 1974 and a Dunedin delegation to Edinburgh in 2014 further strengthened it, Mr Cull said.
Mr Wilson was equally enthusiastic about his visit and the links between the cities and shared that in his speech.
‘‘There can be nothing more appropriate that we can both be cities of literature. It's highly appropriate that we have that in common.''
Edinburgh was designated the first Unesco City of Literature in 2004, while Dunedin became New Zealand's first Unesco City of Literature in 2014.
