Ohakune Highland dancing competition may become annual after successful first event

The Ohakune Winter Fling took place over the weekend, and is believed to be the first Highland dancing competition held in Ruapehu. Photo / Rachelle Johnston

The first ever Ruapehu-hosted Highland dancing event took place over the weekend, with organisers now looking to make it an annual winter event.

More than 200 people crammed into the Ohakune Primary School for the Ohakune Winter Fling, where 87 dancers aged between 4 and 19 competed in 14 different categories.

Sonia McIntosh, of McIntosh Dance Company, pulled the strings for the event, saying if this wasn't the first Highland dancing event in Ruapehu, the last one was "a very, long, long time ago".

"It was very big. Way bigger than we anticipated. I'm really happy with how it went."

She said dancers competed under the rules of the Royal Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing, a standard held all around the world. Christine Burgoyne made the journey down from Auckland to judge the event.

McIntosh said it was amazing to be able to give the dancers a platform to perform.

Several competitors were set to go to the International Highland Dancing Festival Australia on the Central Coast later in July, but the event was postponed until 2022 due to the recent Covid-19 outbreak.

"It is definitely a bit of a letdown, but this is the current environment we are working in."

McIntosh hoped to make it an annual event during the winter school holidays, with many families across New Zealand coming to the region for several days.

"We want it to be more of a destination and it can bring more people into our community."

McIntosh said they may need to look at a different venue next year, depending on how much interest the event garnered.

"These kids are amazing. They put in so much work for these events. It was great to have a huge turnout."