It may be a duck pond by day, but it's a stage for dancing lights by night.
Queenstown's Gardens have transformed this King's Birthday Weekend - with the LUMA Light Festival making its return for the ninth year running.
From fairies to flamingos - and fleeing, flying moa - local lovers of the arts have put on a show for everyone to enjoy.
"The core crew all live and work in Queenstown, this is Thursday night men's shed. We get together on Zoom, over a bottle of wine sometimes, and throw the thing around," LUMA trustee Tim Buckley shared.
The festival opened on Thursday and will run for five nights through until Monday.
More than 30,000 people are expected to attend.
"There's everything you thought you could see, and everything you never could have imagined - all in one space," LUMA chairperson Duncan Forsyth shared.
The location provides not only a blank canvas for New Zealand's top lighting artists, but creative music makers too.
"We sent all the artists this vibe of the space, and then the composed works that suit the environment," LUMA's musical director Michael Hodgson said.
Historically, the festival has also had flow-on effects for Queenstown businesses, ahead of the ski season.
"May's a really interesting time for us. It's actually a really quiet time here in Queenstown, and traditionally it is," Destination Queenstown's chief executive Mat Woods shared.
"LUMA's really important for us to be able to give that sort of ability to come in King's Birthday and have something to enjoy and celebrate."
LUMA is free for children under 12 - with adult tickets starting from $25. Tickets are still available from luma.nz
AM/Newshub was hosted in Queenstown by organisers of the LUMA Southern Lights Project.
