Fireworks impress audience

Fireworks blasted onlookers’ expectations in Queenstown on Saturday night.

Thousands lined Queenstown’s lakefront and surrounding bars to watch the annual DFS midwinter fireworks display.

Among those watching the 10-minute display were Alice Bello, Julien Poirier and Max Bouee, of France, who said it was the best fireworks display they had seen in a long time.

Also observing the display from the lakefront was Ednardo Almeida, of Chile, who said he "wasn’t expecting that much of a display".

"I thought it would just be something small like five minutes long. I thought it was New Year’s Eve level — or even better."

All day on Saturday, DFS warmed up to the fireworks finale by hosting winter festivities in store, including glow-in-the-dark face painting, glow-in-the-dark candy floss and Cloudy Bay wine tasting.

The DFS fireworks display became an annual event for Queenstown last year, after Destination Queenstown pulled out of organising the Winter Festival.