Coronet Peak, Queenstown, New Zealand.Credit: TNZ/Miles Holden
Winter means skiing and snowboarding and skiing and snowboarding mean good times, and you'll always find good times at a festival. These six festivals combine the best of winter with a titillating festival program to keep you and your family entertained on and off the slopes.
The Perisher Peak Festival
June 9-12
The Perisher Peak Festival enters its ninth year when it launches on the ski season opening weekend this June long weekend. Expect more than 35 Australian and international artists across 10 live stages. That's 120 performances over four days from the likes of Sampa the Great, The Strides, Tijuana Cartel, Remi, Cheap Fakes, The Morrisons, Claude Hay and Freya. Tickets are $125 for the full four days or $79 a day pass. PeakFestival.com.au
Queenstown Winter Festival
June 22-25
This year the festival has been reduced from 10 days to a four-day extravaganza of non-stop action. The Queenstown Winter Festival was first launched in 1975 and in 2017 will feature street parties, comedy nights, fireworks and mayhem to kick off winter in style. The town will feature pop-up caravan cafes, social media meet-ups, winemaker dinners, a mountain top dog derby and the hilarious antics of the Jucy Undy 500 on Lake Wakatipu. Winterfestival.co.nz
Winter Festival – Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Fremantle
June 17- July 17
Australia's largest winter event is back this year in four cities. If you can't make it to the ski-fields then lace up your ice skates and hit the open air rinks, throw your kids down the inflatable slides and toboggan on real snow. Pop-up restaurants and bars serve up hot chocolate and winter fare in a traditional European market-style setting. Brisbane, June 17-July 10; Sydney, June 30-July 17; Canberra, June 23-July 17, Fremantle June 24-July 17.
Winterfestival.com.au
Lego Snow Festival Thredbo
July 1-15
This one is for the kids. The Thredbo Lego Snow Festival runs throughout the July school holidays and offers the Thredbo Animals sing-along performances from Syd Koala, Rocky Cocky, Wally Wombat and Extreme Rat. But wait there's more, these lovable furry animals will lead kids in a flare run down Friday Flat under the lights. Night skiing in the beginners' area will feature every night until 7pm. Thredbo.com.au
Kids can enjoy the Treasure Hunt clue sheet to discover secret letters, unlock a message and discover a hidden treasure. Add the Torah Bright Mini Shred on July 9 (kids can meet and ride with Torah), kids pizza and movie night, the giant Lego Land in the Kosciuszko room and a mountain Lego Hunt plus the July 8 Village Square concert with La Fiesta.
New Zealand Mountain Film Festival
June 30 to July 9
Film buffs and photographers, rejoice. The New Zealand Mountain Film Festival is heading to Wanaka and Queenstown at the end of June. The competitive event brings the best adventure films on the world's remote places and extreme sports to town. Enter your film or sign up and join workshops on the art of blogging, snow photography, avalanches and backcountry touring or enrol in the two-day Adventure Film School. A full festival pass is $NZ115 for full access to all Wanaka-based events, including films, speakers and workshops. Mountainfilm.nz
Audi Quattro Winter Games, New Zealand
August 25-September 10
The world's best winter athletes descend upon Queenstown and Wanaka this August and September for the fifth biennial Audi Quattro Winter Games NZ. World champions, Olympic medallists and elite X Games competitors put their skills to the test in one of the key sporting events before the South Korea Olympics. The games also include a festival of live music, DJs, adventure films and more where you can mingle with athletes, coaches, judges and fellow spectators. Wintergamesnz.kiwi
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