The Alexandra Blossom Festival committee is close to announcing this year’s entertainment lineup for the September event.

Event manager Martin McPherson said they would be able to confirm what bands were playing in the next week or two.

There has also been some good news for the festival committee after the event was one of 11 in Central Otago to receive funding from the MBIE Regional Events Promotion Fund.

The fund was being used to encourage domestic visitors to explore beyond the main centres, and would go a long way to helping promote the event throughout the country.

Martin said the $10,000 would be spent on digital marketing across many different channels throughout the South Island.

This would encourage more people from outside the area to visit Alexandra and, more importantly, Central Otago.

There would also be giveaways involved in the advertising, “because we have to be able to track our spending and report it back,” he said.

The Vincent Community Board this year granted $20,000 for the year’s festival - less than a tenth of the cost to run the event ($224,400).

The committee has been working hard to build up its reserves after Covid-19, and in 2023 it was also a close call, with rain all week cancelling the Friday night Mardi Gras, but stopping just in time for the main events on Saturday.

The Blossom Festival has been a cornerstone event in Alexandra and the wider region for 67 years, attracting visitors from across New Zealand, and internationally.  

The past two years saw more than 12,000 people attend the Party in the Park - with 17,500 attending the Grand Parade - many of them from out of town.