Dunedin puts on an interesting selection of festivals and events throughout the year, including such delights as a chocolate festival, fashion shows, arts and crafts, lots of fun games for kids and good music at the Summer Festival.

New Zealand Masters Games: is a biennial sports event in Dunedin featuring dozens of sports for top athletes as well as for fun-seekers. The event also includes some good evening entertainment.

Dunedin Summer Festival: celebrates the Dunedin way of life with activities based around a particular theme such as the Crowning of Festival Queen, Octagon Timebuster, Speed Dunedin, Last Night of the Proms, Baldwin Street Gutbuster, Festival Procession and many more.

Dunedin Fashion: this annual fashion show has been running for several years and features the city’s best designers and up-and-coming talent with a parade of their creations. The parade is held on the neo-Gothic Dunedin Railway Station platform for effect.

Capping Week: happens at the end of April/early May with the University of Otago graduates celebrating their efforts over a week of festivities, including the graduation ceremony, the Capping Show, a student bed race, porridge wrestling and haggis hurling.

Dunedin Film Festival: features a wide selection of films from around the world over two weeks at the Regent Theatre. Film buffs shouldn’t miss this opportunity to see some unique and otherwise hard-to-find films.

Regent Theatre 24 Hour Book Sale: New Zealand's largest second-hand book sale sees around 300,000 books sold over a 24-hour period in the height of winter. There is also lots of fun and entertainment, and funds go towards the theatre's restoration.

Cadbury Chocolate Carnival: is perfect for chocolate lovers who can indulge until their heart’s content. As well as chances to sample some of the world’s finest chocolate are several events, such as the Choc Art Awards, Chocolate Fair in the Octagon, Cadbury Kids' Bake-off and a Jaffa race down Baldwin street.

Dunedin International Film Festival: Dunedin hosts the countryside tour of the New Zealand Film Festival in August and is number three on the list of 15 cities. Visitors can watch featured films at the Regent Theatre.

Great New Zealand Craft Show: is New Zealand's largest professional craft show with top quality crafts for sale from all over the country. Expect to see lots of warm sheepskin products among other quintessential New Zealand items.

Otago Festival of Arts: a biennial event in Dunedin which celebrates the Otago region’s arts and culture with performers from Otago, the rest of the country and around the world performing over a two-week period.

Rhododendron Festival: Dunedin's public parks and private gardens are filled with the striking colours of rhododendrons at this time of year - the main flowering season. Garden tours, many activities and guest speakers are festival highlights.

Oamaru's Victorian Heritage Celebrations: see the people of the Waitaki district celebrate their Victorian heritage with four days of Victorian-themed activities. Popular events include the Victorian Fête, Heritage Dress Days, National Penny Farthing Championships, Stone Sawing Competition, Moonlight Promenades, Victorian Ball, and the Victorian Picnic.

Christmas: is celebrated throughout the city as with elsewhere in New Zealand where shopping malls get in on the act, producing Santa Claus and lots of festive spirit in general. The Octagon is particularly charming during this time.