Waimate Winter Folk Festival

This small folk festival has run since 1994 at Gunns Bush Camp in Waimate, on the South Island's east coast between Timaru and Oamaru, held every King's Birthday long weekend in June. Unlike typical festivals, it pays no guest artists; instead, everyone attending gets a chance to fill a fifteen-minute slot with a solo or group act. The setting is intimate and homely, drawing a loyal crowd who gather around the fire for stories, ballads and mostly acoustic music through the cold winter weekend.