Arrowtown-Kawarau Cr Lisa Guy officially opened the festival with a recent event — the "official throwing of the leaves" — and all were glad to see its return post-Covid.
Buckingham Green hosted the official ceremony, the first of over 50 events taking place between yesterday and Tuesday, with the majority free to attend.
Wakatipu locals and visitors alike were treated to a variety of performances, starting with Arrowtown School’s kapa haka group showcasing both waiata and haka, including a te reo version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
Festival committee co-chairwoman Nicola Bentley also welcomed the 100-plus-strong crowd to her hometown, sharing the history of the festival and its meaning to Arrowtown’s residents.
It was originally created to celebrate the autumn harvest with a variety of events and proved to be a great way to come together to celebrate the village’s favourite season.
She also acknowledged the hard work of the entire committee, all volunteers and the many visitors the festival brought in from out of town.
"It’s your festival."
Kathryn Pettit, general manager of Mora Wines & Artisan Kitchen — the lead partner — spoke of using the festival as an opportunity to give back to the community, and praised the committee for creating a programme both traditional and modern.
"The tried and true events [are] still on the calendar — we would never take those away from you — but they’ve spent time really reinvigorating the programme and re-energising it."
Seventy-five percent of those events were free to attend, including tomorrow’s single-use cup-free market day down Ramshaw Lane, the festival parade in Buckingham St and the ever-popular Highland Fling at Athenaeum Hall.
Further events also included the sold-out Pie, Pint and Pinot on Sunday, and plenty of live music and comedy.
