Whangarei mayor to fly the coop - at Birdman Fest

This is the costume Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai will take flight in at the Russell Birdman Jump. Photo/Sarah Marshall

She is about to prove she's no chicken but is Whangarei Mayor Sheryl Mai just a Crazy Old Bird or can she really fly?

The question of how well she can wing it will be put to the test when Ms Mai takes a flying leap at this weekend's Russell Birdman Festival.

She will take to the air - and the icy water - as the Papermill's first ever entrant, decked out in a bamboo-framed, bird-world costume which, like her entry, is titled Crazy Old Bird.

Papermill tutor Kat Batchelor with the costume during its preparation for the big leap. Photo / Supplied

The reinforced costume had a previous public outing when it was the third prize winning entry in the Northland Bernina Fashion Awards, 2015.

''Our theme for the year is 'flight and movement' so obviously the Birdman fits in well with our theme,'' Papermill business manager Paula Lang said.

Some of the papermakers from the charity based workshop will head to Russell for the occasion. They will perform the chicken dance on the wharf with the mayor before the jump.

''We are hiring a van to take up six of our papermakers, drawn from a hat,'' Ms Lang said.

''We just wanted to do something really fun this year.''

The Papermill is running a "how far will the mayor fly?" pre-leap competition via its Facebook page, the nearest guess earning someone a one-day papermaking workshop valued at $100.

This year, to celebrate the 11th annual Russell Birdman Festival, there will be four days of madcap fun, from today, July 13-16.

The highlight will be at 2pm on Saturday with the Birdman Jump, but other events over the four days include a disco night, raft races, cake decorating competition, cook-offs, food markets, a gum-booted women's obstacle race, waka ama, spaghetti eating contest, fishing, fancy dress, and more.