Tickets are on sale for the second edition of the resuscitated Gay Ski Week, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest winter pride event. Hundreds of GLBT people are expected to converge on Queenstown August 31 and September 7 for a week-long celebration of skiing, socialising and evenings full of fun. The event was brought back successfully last year by local couple Sally and Mandy Whitewoods. They say this year’s event will be “action-packed”, with new events and some old favourites returning. “We’ve taken feedback from last year on board and created some exceptional new nights as well as bringing back some old favourites. 2013 has a great line-up,” Sally Whitewoods says. The programme kicks off with a bang at the opening party at Barmuda on Saturday August 31. People are encouraged to bring their best frocks for a night of ‘poignant love and delectation’ at the opening night of the cabaret-style show “La Cage Aux Folles”. Limited table seats are available. The Broken Shed Casino Royale evening is a smart dress event or dress up in your favourite Bond outfit to stand out from the crowd. The evening starts as it means to go on with a complimentary drink on arrival, before guests are whisked away up the Skyline Gondola for dinner and live entertainment from local band LA Social. The penultimate night is the ‘Queens on the Lake‘ party held aboard the TSS Earnslaw, Queenstown’s iconic Lady of the Lake steamship which will be moored at the Steamer Wharf for the evening. Other highlights include ‘Bingay’, a take on traditional Bingo with a glamorous host and fabulous prizes up for grabs, the infamous Karaoke night at SKYCITY Casino with Miss Ribena and the popular end of festival dance party at The World Bar. “Every year more and more people attend and new sponsors and local business come on board and embrace the festival experience,” Sally Whitewoods says. “Queenstown comes alive during Gay Ski Week and it’s a great opportunity for local businesses to get involved with the rainbow community.” Tickets are now available from the new Gay Ski Week QT website www.gayskiweekqt.com and up-to-the-minute news can be found online at www.facebook.com/gayskiweekqt.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 6th February 2013 - 12:41pm