Hot on the heels of Winton’s Bollywood night, the central Southland town is hosting the Winton Winter Festival this weekend.
Festival organiser Prince Dehru said it was the second time the festival would be hosted in the Middle Pub’s carpark and this year’s event format had grown.
"Winton’s a growing big town and we need some events like these for the community to catch up every now and then."
The township held an annual Christmas parade, but there was nothing else in-between, he said.
He thought the event would also be a win-win for the shops.
"It brings more people in than usual, and people come from town and do a shop around. So all the local shops get a bit of support.
"So it’s a good turnout for the whole of Winton."
Life tended to slow down in the region after the rugby and netball seasons wound up for the year, he said.
"It’s winter — nothing much happens around this timeframe in Winton.
"So we organised this event just for the community to catch up and have a good time.
"Last year it was just a food festival, and this year we got feedback that people were interested in a couple of beer stalls as well."
This year’s offerings will include craft beer stalls alongside food vendor trucks from Invercargill and Winton.
"[There would be] a mix of food, some pizzas, Asian food, Thai food, classic Kiwi food, some Japanese guys and a doughnut dude from town. So a bit of a mix of all the flavours," he said.
"For the kids, depending on the weather, we may have a bouncy castle for the kids and face-painting as well," he said.
The festival runs from noon on Saturday.
- By Toni McDonald
