Hanmer Springs is hoping for cold weather to stick around for the first Alpine Winter Festival. Photo / BareKiwi
With a powdering of perfectly timed snow, Hanmer Springs is preparing to launch their first ever Alpine Winter Festival.
The Arctic temperatures and wind that battered the South Island have helped set the scene and freeze ice rinks in the Hurunui resort town.
"It's been a long time since there's
been ice skating in Hanmer Springs," says General Manager, Graeme Abbott. "Commercially it has never happened."
With a month-long programme of events, the inaugural festival hopes to bring a new crowd to the town which tends to see its peak season in Summer.
Apart from ice skating there are a whole range of activities - from a masquerade ball, 10k run, through to a mountain film festival.
