Gold panning and a heritage exhibition at next weekend's Lake Hayes Show will mark the start of this year's 150th-anniversary celebrations of the discovery of gold in Central Otago.
Gold 150 and Arrowtown 150 co-ordinator Julie Hughes, of Arrowtown, said the first in an extensive programme of events in Otago this year would be gold panning and a special display from the Lakes District Museum "so people can come and have a look at the history .. and then have a go themselves".
Mrs Hughes said it was the start of a "huge" programme of events, for which the Central Lakes Trust approved a contestable funding pool of $200,000 to encourage local groups to recognise the milestone.
So far, Arrowtown 150 has received more than $89,000 in grants, including $30,948 from the trust. The rest came from the Skycity Casino Community Trust ($4259), the Community Trust of Southland ($20,000), the Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust ($9,310) and the Queenstown Lakes District Council ($25,000).
Mrs Hughes said that was about three-quarters of all funds needed for the Arrowtown celebrations, which are centred around four days of festivities starting on October 19.
