Drop-waist, draped dress, pearl, fur and feather-clad women, suited men in boater hats or gangsters in pinstripe and fedoras, and children in lace or knitted vests picnicked under the blazing Maniototo sun on Saturday.
Strains of Dixieland jazz, played by the six-piece Southern Dixie band, washed over revellers from the village green, interspersed by sets of more modern music from the main stage, by Subject2Change.
The occasion was the 13th annual Ranfurly Art Deco Festival.
It attracted about 2500 people to celebrate, from all around the lower South Island and some further afield.
Organising committee vice-chairwoman Amie Pont said tourists from Britain and the United States had stumbled upon the festival, while others had timed their trips.
Two highlights were the grand parade - which included the Maniototo Pipe Band, vintage cars and tractors - and the fashion parade.
Men, women and children dressed to the nines in Art Deco attire strutted their stuff down the red carpet.
Victoria Ransom (16) and Suzie Foster, both of Dunedin, shared the best dressed woman title with their home-made outfits and Peter Fleury, dressed as a gangster, won the men's section. Best dressed girl went to Laura Browning (8), of Invercargill, while her brothers Jack (10) and George (5) jointly won best dressed boy. The three children, along with their grandparents won the best dressed family section.
Seventy market stalls, including food stalls, lined parts of the town's main streets while a bouncy slide and obstacle course, free face painting and street performers entertained the children.
Dunedin girl band Foxy Tones entertained in the evening.
Mrs Pont said the weekend was the result of a lot of hard work, especially by committee chairwoman Diane Paterson, but it was more than just a weekend.
''It's about a community taking pride in itself.''
About 70 people attended a cabaret on Friday night.
Mrs Pont said plans for next year's festival were already under way and it would be an extra special one, as the Cavalcade would end in Ranfurly.
