The organisers of the NZ Mountain Film & Book Festival (NZMFF) say they are confident the event will be able to go ahead despite the risks associated with Omicron.

The festival, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is scheduled to run in Wānaka from June 24-29, in Queenstown June 30-July 2, and online from June 24 to July 24. 

“Two years ago, we put planning in place for three separate 100-person events across three separate venues so we feel confident that we can use a similar format again in 2022, if needed,” NZMFF festival director Mark Sedon said.

The nine-day event is a celebration of adventurous sports and lifestyles presented for adventurers, film and book enthusiasts and armchair adventurers

“We will be following My Vaccine Pass requirements and the organising team are working hard to ensure we can operate a high-quality event while keeping everyone safe.

He said the online festival is another way that people can enjoy the festival sessions. 

“We introduced this as an option in 2020 when many of our loyal festival fans were unable to travel due to Covid restrictions,” Mark said. “It went so well that we decided to keep it in the programme and it’s certainly a good way to ensure more people can be part of the festival even with the challenges of Covid-19.”

The NZMFF is also a competitive event and an opportunity for filmmakers and authors to showcase their work, receive merit and win cash prizes. 

The internationally recognised adventure filmmakers competition has been receiving entries from New Zealand and around the globe all vying for festival screen time and the $7,000 in prize money.

Entries for the 2022 book competition have also been flooding in with the festival’s programme co-ordinator Dan Clearwater reporting that within just a few weeks of the competition opening on January 1, the number of entries received had already exceeded last year’s total.

This year will be the sixth edition of the NZ Mountain Book Festival and the third year the NZ Mountain Book of the Year Award has been offered.

Find out more about the upcoming festival here.

PHOTO: Supplied