One of the oldest race meetings in the country drew the biggest turnout in its history on Tuesday (December 30) at the Hāwea Domain.

The picnic races are a fun combination of family fun sports races and equalisator horse racing.

This year the races included a range of harness racing events; a popular new hobby horse event for kids, and a combined sack/egg and spoon race, relay race, tug of war, and two-legged gallop for humans.

Other attractions included Hāwea Flat School’s ‘human fruit machine’, a sausage sizzle by the Hāwea Volunteer Fire Brigade, the popular chocolate wheel, and raffles.

A new hobby horse event was popular.

Hāwea Picnic Racing Club president Warren Hewson told the Wānaka App the day’s turnout, estimated at 1,500, was “unreal”, and likely to have been helped by the cooler temperature meaning fewer people were drawn to the lake instead.

“It would have been the largest crowd we have ever had,” he said.

The Hāwea Picnic Races have been held on December 28 almost every year since 1946. The event has been cancelled only three times: once for wild weather, once for Covid-19, and last year due to dwindling entries from the racing industry.

A change of date from December 28 to 30 this year attracted ten trainers from Southland, Otago and Canterbury, bringing 20 horses in total.

Despite this, Warren said the event was still “a bit short on horses”.

The picnic races were supported by Glen Dene Hunting and Fishing and an impressive number of other local sponsors. All profits from the event are distributed back into the Hāwea community.

The Hāwea Volunteer Fire Brigade was kept busy at the barbeque.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App