Clowning around at the More FM Day on the Bay – the Southern Hemisphere's biggest winter party goes off!

Forget about the circus – Queenstown took the biscuit today (Sunday 26 June) for extreme entertainment as high jinks, high adrenalin and hilarity swept the resort in a series of wild and wacky sports as part of the American Express Queenstown Winter Festival.

In day three of the programme thousands of spectators packed out Queenstown’s Marine Parade keen to get a glimpse of the More FM Birdman competition, which featured a cardboard army tank from Pack and Send’s A-Team shooting over the enemy, Aladdin and his Genie on a magic carpet and Hyundai Code’s Angel falling from grace into the deep. But it was the anonymous men known collectively as ‘Bounce’, dressed in orange gimp suits and armed with moonhoppers, who won first prize for the ‘best Birdman’ entry.

Then the action moved to the beach where 5 jetboats took part in the dare-devil Air New Zealand Holiday Jet Sprints. With V8s roaring, the fastest boat through the challenging slalom course was reigning champions Skippers Canyon Jet. Second place went to Kawarau Jet with Shotover Jet in third place.

The next race was powered by arms and legs as the brand new Quiksilver Paddle Board race took to the water. Winners were local hard men Triple S from the Alpine Boards Riders Club – Mike Stewart, Andrew (Slappy) Salek and Bas Smith.

A bunch of fearless guys and one girl donned swimwear for the Budget Rent-a-Car Splash & Dash which included a 50 metre swim in the freezing waters of Lake Wakatipu followed by a dash down the beach. Winner was Mark Wilson of Queenstown while Emily Cant of Christchurch picked up a prize as the only female in the event.

The final event of the day was the American Hundy 500 where competitors in male and female divisions completed a tricky obstacle course in and out of the water. Swedish visitor Charlotta Svenungsson took first place in the women’s event with Thijs Hubber of Christchurch streaking ahead of the competition to claim the cash in the men’s.

Festival Director Simon Green said hundreds of “good sports” had embraced their wild side to put on some priceless entertainment for festival-goers’ enjoyment.

“The Day on the Bay is always a real crowd-pleaser and the participation of contestants makes it so much fun.”

Earlier in the day, the less physical among festival goers enjoyed a delectable lakeside brunch at Queenstown’s newest 5 star hotel, Hilton Queenstown with entertainment from jazz exponents, Nairobi Trio.

Continuing to take Queenstowners out of their comfort zone tonight, Mountain Scene presents the Thriller in the Chiller Charity Boxing Night at Queenstown Event Centre where 22 local guys and girls will step into the ring after just 15 weeks of training to raise money for the Bruce Grant Youth Trust.

Tomorrow (Monday 27 June) more comedy is on the way with the cream of New Zealand’s stand up comedians taking to the stage for the Oaks Hotels & resorts Comedy Gala at the American Express Ice Box.

To see the full programme line up and individual event details check out the complete American Express Queenstown Winter Festival calendar online at www.winterfestival.co.nz or pick up a programme at information outlets throughout the region.

Tickets for all events can be bought from TicketDirect online at www.ticketdirect.co.nz, by phone 0800 224 224 (03 450 9110), or in person at the Queenstown Events Centre or Queenstown i-Site (corner of Shotover and Camp streets)*.