More than a thousand school pupils from across the region descended on Queenstown this week, for the second annual Central Lakes Polyfest.

Pupils ranging in age from early childhood to eighteen took the stage in Queenstown to participate in kapa haka and Pasifika.

Numbers are almost double from last year, thanks to the enthusiasm of both teachers and pupils.

Polyfest has been running in nearby Invercargill for ten years, and attracts up to ten thousand pupils.

Which leaves organisers of the Queenstown-based event wondering if they've outgrown the venue.

Thousands of people attended the 2019 Diwali Festival of Lights in Invercargill on Saturday.

Hosted by the Indian community, the event was held at the ILT Stadium Southland for its second year.

Dunedin, and Otago's, oldest school is set to become New Zealand's newest.

Arthur Street school will be completely rebuilt during a 10 million dollar refurbishment of the 171-year old precinct.

The bond between some humans and their animals is so strong one will move heaven and earth to be with the other.

Last year, a Dunedin couple offered two thousand dollars for information to find their beloved dog called Meg.

This evening Meg and her humans are celebrating another milestone.

Twenty years ago a Dunedin-based train driver was killed in a head-on collision with another train at Waipahi Station, near Gore.

This last Sunday saw a special train take around 150 people to the memorial to remember the dark day in New Zealand rail history.

Thornbury School pupils and the wider community turned out for a pet day in Southland on Monday.

With an emphasis on rural pets the event helped teach the children how to look after animals.

A Dunedin bird rescue organisation is on the look-out for foster families to look after the dozens of orphaned ducklings which are coming in this spring.

Bird Rescue Dunedin provides foster families the information they need to have the right set-up and the knowledge to care for the little ducks.

Henley residents are hoping their township will be better protected from flooding after a long battle with the Otago Regional Council.

Following several floods in the past nine years, the council is finally restoring nearby floodbanks.

An Invercargill city councillor is supporting the Oyster and Food Festival Trust's bid to demolish the Club Hotel in Bluff.

The trust has been denied permission to demolish the decaying and abandoned hotel due to its listed heritage value.

Organisers of the South Dunedin Busking Festival were blessed with one of the warmest days of spring for the event on Saturday.

More than 30 acts entered, putting themselves up for the scrutiny of a trio of judges.

A Dunedin waiata group boasts 80 members, and has attracted people from a wide range of government departments.

But while they perform beautiful songs, it's likely you'll never see them perform in public.

A crowd of nearly 500 people ran five kilometres around Oamaru's racecourse while being pelted with various shades of coloured powder along the way.

The Rainbow Run is now in its seventh year, and each time raises funds for a good cause.

Twenty years of Zonta Extraordinary Fashion were celebrated in Dunedin on Thursday night.

Raising over $20,000 for Plunket, the event attracted about 18 designers to have their spring and summer collections admired by a crowd of about 400 people.

On Saturday, South Dunedin's main drag is to be filled with the sound of music with the city's annual busking festival.

The event spawned from the South Dunedin Street Festival a few years back, and is growing year-on-year.

Today the world stops.

Schools, workplaces, people in the street and more took part in a global earthquake preparedness drill.

In South Dunedin a community workshop was ready when the alarm sounded.