Midwinter Carnival 2018

The Midwinter Carnival is an annual event in Dunedin which celebrates…winter!  It took place this past Saturday, June 30, the closest Saturday to the Winter Solstice (longest night of the year). It is held on the Octagon. I was invited by some friends from Abbey. We walked to the Octagon and arrived about 5:45pm. It was PACKED. There was a live band, local foodstalls, firepits, and a lot of people. We all surrounded the Octagon road, waiting for the parade. Lights shown on the Town Hall, making it a very lovely sight. Prior to the parade, a few of us wandered around the center of it all, investigating the food trucks and band. At 6pm the Carnival Procession starts. The procession involved around 1000 people, mostly local families who made their own lanterns out of paper. This year’s theme was “A Winter’s Tale”. The parade hosted characters and creatures from different fairy tales. Giant lanterns of the Little Red Riding Hood‘s big bad wolf, the Frog Prince, and Cinderella’s horses light up the sky. There were stilt-walkers, dancers, drummers- about 100 of them all in costume. I did not have the best view, being a bit short, but I peeked through arms and gaps between bodies and saw most of it. Afterwards, we met up again with the rest of the group and waited for the fireworks. In the meantime, we watched Japanese drummers and fire twirlers (I really could not see anything so just listened). The fireworks exploded around 7pm from a building next to the Town Hall. They were pretty cool, especially being so close. The kids loved them! Check out the pictures here!

It was a pretty chilly night, hats and gloves a must. But it is midwinter!