World Famous Southland Party Back

MEDIA RELEASE

5 SEPTEMBER 2012

World Famous Southland Party Back

The world-famous Southland Party at Parliament in Wellington is to be resurrected later this month.

Around 250 ex-pat Southlanders living in the Capital, residents from the deep south, as well as people with connections to the province further afield, will gather in the Parliament’s Banquet Hall on September 21.

After a nine-year absence, the growing demand from ex-pat Southlanders to revive the event has been responded to and organisers are confident this year’s party will be the first of many more.

Oysters, chocolate, Southland beef and lamb, plus other specialities, will all be on the menu for the function.

A portion of the proceeds will go to the charity, the Neurological Foundation Southern Chair of Neurosurgery.

Event organisers are pleased to announce partners supporting The Southland Party include brewers Lion, Venture Southland, leading meat exporter and processor Alliance Group, the Invercargill Licensing Trust, The Seriously Good Chocolate Company and Blue River Dairy.

The Southern Steel, Rugby Southland, and the Tuatapere Hump Ridge Track are also supporting the event.

Southland Party organising committee chair Barry Soper says the event is an excellent opportunity to celebrate all that is good about the province.

“It’s a great chance for Southlanders to get together and have a yarn, eat some tremendous Southland tucker and have a few drinks. We’re stoked to be bringing the Southland Party back to Wellington after all these years.

"It'll be good to once again hear the Beehive's Banquet Hall reverberating to the Southland drawl. It's amazing how quickly southerners remember the roll of the R when they get together en masse.

“We expect strong interest in the Southland Party event so I’d advise anyone wishing to attend to get in quick.”

Deputy Speaker and MP for Invercargill, Eric Roy, who is also helping to organise the event, added: “There is a sizeable Southland community living in Wellington and the feedback so far has been extremely positive. We’re urging any Southlanders based in Wellington and elsewhere in NZ to come along.”

Organisers are calling on those interested in attending the event to register their interest early by emailing southlandparty@gmail.com. Tickets cost $60 per person and will be on sale in Wellington via the organising committee, and in Invercargill through Venture Southland, 143 Spey Street, Invercargill, from Wednesday 5 September.

Updates will be posted on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TheSouthlandParty and on Twitter @southland 2012.

The Southland Party will be held at Parliament on Friday, September 21, from 6pm to 11pm.
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