Auckland-based covers band Halo will be playing music from the 70s, 80s and 90s during gin-tasting and dance evening Gin and Jive. Photo / Supplied
Auckland-based covers band Halo will be playing music from the 70s, 80s and 90s during gin-tasting and dance evening Gin and Jive. Photo / Supplied
When the weather gets cold in Taupō, that's nature's way of telling you that it's time to head out.
Out to dinners and dancing, ice skating and ice sliding, food, music, a play and a pancake breakfast. In other words, out to the 2021 Malcolm Flowers Insurances Taupō Winter Festival.
Last year's festival, like many other events, had Covid-19 to contend with. Ongoing uncertainty over alert levels meant the festival eventually ran in two separate slots, one in July for the events that were able to be held with social distancing in place, and the other set in October at alert level 1.
But planning is full steam ahead for the festival to occupy its usual slot during the July school holidays and for the full complement of everything from its popular music and drinks event to a onesie run on the Tongariro Domain.
There are also a few changes this year, with the Mercury Light Trail taking up residence on the Tongariro North Domain rather than on the South Domain as in previous years, and two events being held in Tūrangi.
As always there is a generous helping of free and low-cost events to make the festival accessible to families, as well as a selection of ticketed shows.
In the circus theatre show Fool Steam Ahead, three distractable deck hands have a ship to clean, a raucous audience and a pesky seagull to contend with. Photo / Supplied
Some of the festival's best-loved events, with a twist, are back for 2021.
Amelia Dunbar and Emma Newborn, the hilarious duo behind the plays The Bitches' Box (Erupt Lake Taupō Festival 2014) and Sons of a Bitch (Taupō Winter Festival 2016), bring their new offering Life's A Bitch to Taupō.
This time, they are two Swiss ex-circus dogs who have emigrated to New Zealand and find themselves stuck in the middle of nowhere. Life's a Bitch has toured the South Island and the Taupō Winter Festival will be its first outing in the North Island.
Drink and dancing has been a theme of the festival since its inception six years ago with Whisky & Jazz, Rum & Rock, Bourbon & Blues, craft beer and a covers band all among the offerings. In 2021 it's the turn of Gin & Jive, with gins from around the world from The Merchant and Auckland-based covers band Halo, featuring talented Taupō favourite Michael Murphy and a playlist from the 70s, 80s and 90s.
The festival always features a classical music event and this year musicians Amalia Hall and Stephen De Pledge will perform works by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Falla and Gershwin at an afternoon concert at Ferner Galleries.
Paradice Ice bring ice skating back to Taupō for the festival's Wairakei Estate Ice Rink. Photo / Supplied
Another popular event making a return is the Cheal Degustation Dinner The Gathering Under The Stars with two dinners held in Taupō at the Great Lake Centre and one in Tūrangi at the Hare and Copper Restaurant.
MasterChef 2014 winners Karena and Kasey Bird will be telling the story of Matariki through a series of dishes inspired by the Māori cuisine of their youth in a night of food, drinks and culture.
Former Tauhara College student and now writer, musician and composer Ruby Solly and esteemed New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera spend an afternoon in conversation at the festival's readers' event and there are art exhibitions at the Great Lake Centre foyer and Taupō Museum along with Streets Alive artists performing around the Taupō town centre on Saturday, July 17, a kids' creation station making Matariki mobiles and a circus workshop and the annual Taupō 's Got Talent, a youth talent quest.
The Build Taupō Creative Igloos on the Tongariro North Domain will host interactive and creative sessions for children over Friday, July 16 and Saturday, July 17. Photo / Supplied
Outside, there's plenty for families to enjoy. The Wairakei Estate Ice Rink and Rapids Jet Ice Slide both return, along with the Ebbett Fun Zone and the Mercury Light Hub which this year includes an augmented reality snowman, constructed via an app on your smartphone.
Over three nights of the festival DPA Dinner On the Domain, based on the successful summertime Dinner at the Lake, will have food trucks and heated marquees and giant igloos where you can buy something special to eat and drink and enjoy it while listening to local musicians and kids' entertainment.
At Shakespeare on the Park you can also take in some snippets of Shakespeare and support talented young Taupō actors fundraising to go to the Globe Theatre in London.
Inside, and also for families, there is the circus Fool Steam Ahead, a ticketed show described as "fun, imaginative and really funny", which follows the festival's legendary free Pak'nSave pancake breakfast on Sunday, July 18.
Take a freezing dip in the lake or the Tongariro River at the More FM Mid-Winter Swim or River Shiver or strap on the skates at the Kefi Roller Disco.
The Malcolm Flowers Insurances Taupō Winter Festival runs from July 9 to 25 and event details and tickets are available at taupowinterfestival.co.nz.
