A variety concert displaying Wakatipu talent, an ice rink decorated with coloured lights, a movie premiere and Flight of the Conchords are among the upcoming highlights of the 2012 Queenstown Winter Festival.
The programme is now confirmed for the 37th annual extravaganza, set to boast more than 50 community attractions.
More than half will be free to enter. Festival organisers have promised to cater for families more than previously.
Festival director Simon Green told the Otago Daily Times the opening party and fireworks on Friday, June 22 would be "all local" with the theme "Best of the Basin".
"Each year we've given a certain number of spots for local talent to get up and do their thing and, while we get hundreds of applications from around the world to perform, this year we want to showcase the talent in Queenstown to Queenstowners and visitors."
Mr Green and his colleague, entertainer Margaret O'Hanlon, were calling for performers.
Winners of Wakatipu talent competitions, the cast of homegrown stage production London Calling and young bands such as the Fletcherz were in the running for the Earnslaw Park stage, he said.
The popular temporary ice rink, costing more than $100,000, will return to the Queenstown Village Green, thanks to the major festival sponsor. Rigging, platforming, surfacing and icing of the rink would begin on June 18 and take five days.
"What it added to [the] festival last year was just fantastic; it ticked so many boxes," Mr Green said. "People drove past it at night with the lights on. It reintroduced a lot of people to skating and it gave the festival a centrepiece."
Mr Green said the dozen Wakatipu women were selected for this year's Ladies Fashion Challenge over 12 weeks. Their lifestyle makeovers will be revealed in the Queenstown Memorial Hall on Monday, June 25.
"There's some wonderful stories that will play out on the night and it's a very quintessential Queenstown event."
Festival organisers and partners dovetailed two major events for this year's festival.
Hollywood comes to Queenstown when the "blue carpet" is rolled out for the New Zealand premiere of Ice Age 4: Continental Drift at Reading Cinemas on Saturday, June 23, during the festival's opening weekend. The cinema complex and Queenstown Mall will be decorated with an ice theme, characters will greet young fans, and spot prizes will be up for grabs.
Asked if any stars would attend, Mr Green said: "There'll be some characters from the film, but at this stage we haven't had confirmation of voice talent coming for it. But you just never know your luck."
Comedy folk duo Flight of the Conchords will then perform in the Queenstown Events Centre on Sunday, June 24.
"This is the first time since Jimmy Barnes in 2004 we've had something fit together," Mr Green said. "Being part of a sell-out tour is fantastic for us and there'll be people travelling to it."
The film premiere will cap a Saturday packed with family-friendly activities, including the Birdman competition and the festival parade through the streets of the resort.
The Thriller in the Chiller had become remarkably popular in just three years, and 60 contenders were now training for the charity amateur boxing tournament.
The final 20 fighters will be selected in two weeks for the bout in front of a black-tie audience in the events centre on June 30.
"The level of commitment and hard work that people are doing is amazing," Mr Green said.
Mardi Gras on July 1 will be the festival swansong and was deliberately scheduled for the Sunday instead of the traditional Tuesday, for the benefit of families, Mr Green said.
World music acts will join the Queenstown Ukulele Orchestra, Maestros of Motown and hit New Zealand bands Babysitters Circus, led by Opshop frontman Jason Kerrison, and dDub on the Earnslaw Park Stage.
Wakatipu youth bands supported by the RockFormation Charitable Trust will play on the Beach St stage and a Lantern Parade will see out the festival.
