Wanakafest had its origins in the Snowfest, an end-of-ski-season festival for locals that began in 1987.
The festival was renamed Wanakafest in more recent years and was extended with the addition of other crowd-pleasing elements, such as a polar plunge, wheelie bin and cardboard boat races, a wine and food festival and fireworks.
However, the festival could not be held last year after the Wanakafest charitable trust lost a key sponsor, Shooters Bar and Grill, and $10,000 worth of funding.
Kahu Youth, Radio Wanaka and other organisations and volunteers stepped in to organise the street parade and polar plunge last year, while the trust concentrated on raising funds for this year's festival.
The new sponsors are Willowridge Developments Ltd, a company associated with developer Alan Dippie, and Stonewood Homes, owned by John Herbert and Mark Harry.
The festival has been renamed Willowridge Wanakafest and Mr Dippie has signalled an intention to be involved long-term.
He has also provided Ms Morrison with a festival office at the empty BaseCamp building on Cardrona Valley Rd, which is now part of Mr Dippie's West Meadows residential subdivision.
Ms Morrison, a former Canadian, has a master's degree in glacier science from Otago University.
She is married to mountain guide Mark Morrison, has lived at Hawea Flat for two years, and was appointed to the part-time position of Wanakafest co-ordinator in December.
