The main streets of Queenstown were roads travelled by a unicorn, zombies and ice hockey players on Saturday and yesterday Lake Wakatipu hosted a winning performance by an Olympic swimmer.
Multisport athlete Steve Gurney and fellow Birdman competitor Jackie Clarke slapped molasses over their bodies, then had the contents of pillows thrown on top of them before jumping into Lake Wakatipu, which was reported to be 9degC.
While the skies were clear yesterday, the occasional rain drop among the snowflakes was hardly a dampener for the Winter Festival street parade on Saturday, which had 36 floats and a well wrapped-up crowd cheering through their shivering.
After opening night celebrations on Friday set the scene for the 39th Winter Festival, the street parade was the next traditional event.
Queenstown Primary School won the Best Community Float with paper hearts made by pupils decorating a 1937 convertible Chevrolet bus.
A giant birthday cake and an overall joyful theme to celebrate 25 years earned AJ Hackett Bungy first place in the Best Business Float section.
Contestants in the Birdman competition, where costumed competitors throw themselves into the lake during Sunday's Day on the Bay, included teenage mutant ninja turtles, a pair of chickens and a quartet of backpackers with a giant backpack.
Day on the Bay entertainment also included a select few of the resort's commercial jet boat drivers navigating their way around a tight course on Queenstown Bay.
Skippers Canyon jet-boat driver Kevin Malloy emerged as the winner, completing the course in 59sec.
There was no doubt winter had well and truly arrived in the resort, but competitions which required little clothing and experiencing Lake Wakatipu's chilly waters first-hand were once again popular.
Olympic swimmer Moss Burmester competed in and won the men's Splash 'n Dash.
After Burmester's win and the women's version, which had a smaller pool of competitors, men wearing very little were once again on show, this time in the Undy 500 - tripping over each other in their attempts to go under plastic poles and over hay bales.
The winter weather which affected much of New Zealand last week resulted in Jetstar cancelling only one return service from Wellington to Queenstown on Friday.
A Jetstar spokesman said there were no other cancellations going into Queenstown on Friday or Saturday, but two outbound flights were cancelled and one outbound flight on Saturday was cancelled.
Air New Zealand reported about 10 flights were disrupted, mainly because of weather problems in Wellington, rather than Queenstown. Winter Festival director Lisa Buckingham said she could not have asked for better in terms of the weather, with the Remarkables, Coronet Peak and Cecil Peak covered in snow.
Local primary school pupils joining New Zealand music personality Dave Dobbyn on stage during the opening night celebrations on Friday to sing Slice of Heaven was a memorable moment for Ms Buckingham.
''There have been so many different events and they have all gone fabulously,'' she said.
Queenstown police were unable to comment on behaviour so far.
The festival continues this week, with a mass zumba fitness event at Earsnlaw Park and the first of two comedy galas tonight.
