New Queenstown Winter Festival director appointed

Queenstown, New Zealand (Wednesday 30 August, 2017) – Destination Queenstown is delighted to announce the appointment of Rae Baker to the position of Queenstown Winter Festival Director.

Ms Baker, who has extensive experience in delivering major events overseas and in New Zealand, will commence her role in mid-October.

With a background in event management, Rae held the position of Head of Entertainment and Events at Edinburgh University for eight years, and was responsible for the year round delivery of all events, including Freshers week which hosted over 400 events across eight days.

In parallel with her position at the University, Rae established and operated her own music festivals and worked on major events including the MTV Europe Awards, a number of Edinburgh festivals, and the Edinburgh Fringe. More recently Rae has been working with the Tauranga City Council as their Event Delivery Manager and is on the Board for the Auckland Fringe Festival.

Destination Queenstown Chief Executive Graham Budd is delighted to welcome Ms Baker into the director position.

“Rae brings a broad skillset to this role from a career in bringing large scale events to life. Rae’s enthusiasm and energy for delivering this world class event for the Queenstown community and our visitors is clear and we are excited to have her on board,” says Mr Budd.

“I’d also like to acknowledge outgoing Festival Director Lisa Buckingham for her commitment to this event for five years. Lisa was instrumental in delivering a number of milestone Festivals, including its 40thanniversary and the transformation of the event into the current four-day format. We wish her well in her next endeavours,” says Mr Budd.

Ms Baker is from Scotland originally and holds a New Zealand passport. She has previously spent time living in New Zealand, including three years in Taupo and six months in Queenstown, and looks forward to returning to the Southern Lakes region.

“The Queenstown Winter Festival is one of New Zealand’s hallmark events, and I’m so excited to be returning to live in Queenstown to lead the team in bringing this well-loved festival to local residents and visitors alike,” she says.

Rae will start in the position on 16 October.

The 2018 Queenstown Winter Festival will fall over the weekend of 23-24 June 2018.