The biggest party of the year is about to kick-off in New Zealand with the start of the annual Queenstown Winter Festival in June. This year's event is sponsored by Real Journeys and with a revamped  program, is set to be the most ambitious winter-fest yet.

The organisers of the 2018 Real Journeys Queenstown Winter Festival decided to shake things up with a brand new musical line-up as well as new venues and activities. This may be the 44th edition of the venerable celebration, but even experienced festival goers will find something to surprise and amaze them this year.

The party kicks off with a traditional Maori welcome and torchlight procession followed by an open air concert on the brand new festival stage located on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. The musical acts for this year's festival promises to be a 100% home-grown affair, offering music lovers a smorgasbord of local Kiwi talent. The top artists in New Zealand will take the stage at this year's winter fest, hand-picked to appeal to the entire spectrum of music lovers.

Among this year's line-up of musical acts are well known names such as Tiki Taane, Maala, Leisure, The Black Seeds and The Feelers as well as acts like L.A.B., Yoko-Zuna, Nadia Reid, Hollie Smith and the Killergrams. Two live music venues, the Memorial Centre and Sherwood Hotel will host the performers this year. In addition to the musical acts this year's line-up of activities includes competitions, family fun and frivolity with a touch of madness the Queenstown Winter Festival has become famous for over the years.

Cardrona is this year's host mountain and the site of the brand new mountain village. Cardrona is set to feature such off-beat events like the Monteith’s Dog Derby and the ever-popular dog barking contest. Meanwhile down at Queenstown Bay, iHeartRadio is sponsoring an entire day’s worth of wacky events such as the "JUCY Undy 500" underwear marathon, lake jumping "Hits 90.4 Birdman" contest and "Go Orange Ripper Rafting", a brand new activity debuting this year.

The Real Journeys Queenstown Winter Festival is a five day event that runs from Thursday 21 June to Sunday 24 June, 2018. For a full program details visit www.winterfestival.co.nz