Ohakune mardi gras emphasis on food & wine

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 15, Issue 694, 8 July 1997, Page 11

Ohakune mardi gras emphasis on food & wine

Ohakune accom modation is fast beco. ming booked out for the mardi gras planned for Sunday 2 August. A strong emphasis of the evening will be on food and wine. with Waitotara Meat Co providing a food tent specialising in quality lamb. Daniel le Brun and Montana Wines will also be there as well as local restaurant and bar facilities. The local Lions club will

provide barbecue patties in association with Richmonds. The band Kantuta will provide street music and there will be appearances from the "Mermaids of Paradise" Pacific Island drum band,, known for their support at the Warriors Rugby League matches. Celebrities include television gardener Maggie Barry, who as well as performing judging and compering duties, will be in-

volved in a garden stall at the Carrot Carnival in Ohakune earlier in the day. TV personality Mark Wright will .be the overall master of ceremonies. The main prize of the night is a ski trip for two to Vale Resorts, Colorado, a group that encompasses the Breckenridge, Key stone and Beaver resorts. In association with the prize-giving ceremony will be the "Boys' Ballet." This

event was a great success last year. This year's performance is entitled 'Boys of the Dance," which it is hoped will be a rough approximation of the betterknown "Lord of the Dance" routine. The event will be closiely judged and scored by the celebrity guests. Also on offer will be a fireworks display and there will be a "Black Tie Mardi Gras Ball" to be held upstairs in the Powderhorn Chateau, commencing at

10pm and running through until 3am. Ohakune Events Organisation chairman John McCarthy congratulated all of the people involved in the event, with a special thanks to main sponsor Winstone Pulp International. He said as the event becomes a fixture on an annual basis it will go from strength to strength and this would only have a positive spin-off for the area.