Nga mihi nui and thank you all! 

What an extraordinary celebration of all things nature right here in beautifully WILD Ōtepoti!  A huge and heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the 2026 Wild Dunedin, New Zealand's Festival of Nature, such a vibrant and memorable success. To our passionate event hosts, speakers, and performers - thank you for sharing your knowledge, creativity, your voices, and your love for the natural world. To all who attended, explored, and took part - your curiosity and enthusiasm truly gave the festival life and heart.

We are deeply grateful to all of our sponsors, funders, supporters, and partners for their generous support, and to our dedicated team and volunteers whose energy and commitment made it all possible.

Together, we celebrated the wild beauty, biodiversity, and wondrous potential of a sustainable future in Ōtepoti, Dunedin, for its landscapes, wildlife, and community.

Thank you for being part of it. Until next time, keep exploring, keep caring, and, if we may borrow the words from Sia Aston and the dedicated DoC team from our opening night - always be naturing! 

-Carla Munro, Interim Festival Director

  • City Nature Challenge

    Where cities around the world collaborate to share observations of nature in their city. Wild Dunedin has joined the City Nature Challenge this year and we’d love you to join us.

    24 - 27 April 2026

    Read more here

About Wild Dunedin

Wild Dunedin – NZ’s Festival of Nature has very deep roots in Dunedin, the wildlife capital of Aotearoa. We work with local community groups, businesses, conservationists and nature lovers to share the magnificent wildlife and wild places of our city, and we showcase the work of those who are planting native species, eradicating introduced mammalian predators, and helping populations of native animals of all kinds to flourish.

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Wild Dunedin Stories

Stories
The OPERA
The OPERA

A farm in a past life, and now a thriving sanctuary for native plants and animals, The OPERA - Otago Peninsula Eco Restoration Alliance, formerly Penguin Place, has big plans for the future under the guidance of new owners Ike and Jerad Haldan who bought the property in April 2023.

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Nature Podcast with Karthic
Nature Podcast with Karthic

Refreshing nature sounds and stories from the wilderness in ten episodes and produced in Dunedin. Karthic is a wildlife filmmaker telling simple fun stories about nature and the wild places of Aotearoa. He is from Tamil Nadu, India and is currently based in Dunedin.

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Land Art - created from nature’s materials
Land Art - created from nature’s materials

For the 2022 Festival environmental artists Martin Hill and Philippa Jones guided the community in the construction of a Wild Dunedin ephemeral work at St Kilda beach, that the tide returned to nature.

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Fur Seal or Sea Lion – How to Tell the Difference
Fur Seal or Sea Lion – How to Tell the Difference

Can you tell the difference between a New Zealand sea lion/rāpoka/whakahao and a New Zealand fur deal/kekeno? Amelia Saxby from the Dunedin based NZ Sea Lion Trust says that the best way to tell the difference is from the face.

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George St Orchard – Rory Harding’s Food Forest
George St Orchard – Rory Harding’s Food Forest

Rory Harding’s spectacular George St Orchard in the heart of Dunedin demonstrates how much food you can grow in 300 square metres.

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Wild Herbal Medicine
Wild Herbal Medicine

Ruth Vaughan of Wild Dispensary loves how our backyard provides an abundance of plants to help us stay healthy.

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Stories
Woodhaugh Gardens
Woodhaugh Gardens

Woodhaugh Gardens is at 1081 George St, bordered by the Water of Leith and forming part of the city’s Green Belt, linking up with the Botanic Garden.

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Chingford Park
Chingford Park

Chingford Park, with arguably the best collection of mature exotic trees in urban Dunedin, is very easy to find at 411 North Rd in the North East Valley.

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Huriawa Pā
Huriawa Pā

Spectacular Huriawa Peninsula at Karitāne just south of Waikouaiti was the site of a historic fortified Māori pā. 

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Sutton Salt Lake
Sutton Salt Lake

You’ll find Sutton Lake, New Zealand’s only inland salt water lake, an hour’s drive from Dunedin, five minutes before Middlemarch.

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Otago Peninsula Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial 1914-1918
Otago Peninsula Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial 1914-1918

Otago Peninsula Fallen Soldiers' Memorial - you will be rewarded by phenomenal views after a steep 10 minute walk.

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Orokonui Estuary Walk
Orokonui Estuary Walk

Orokonui Estuary - a peaceful place just 20 minutes drive from the city.

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Monarch Wildlife Cruise on Otago Harbour
Monarch Wildlife Cruise on Otago Harbour

Extinct volcanoes, a lighthouse, seal pups, a sea lion, albatross, spoonbills, the suction dredge, the science of flight, krill in the water – all this on an hour long cruise on the Monarch.

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Places to
Visit

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NZ’s Festival of Nature

Dunedin is like no other because of its unique wildlife. Penguins, sea lions, albatross and fur seals love our ocean, and they breed right here inside our city’s boundary.

You can see these wild creatures at any time, but it's even better to come during the April school holidays, when we celebrate our wildlife and wild places during the Wild Dunedin Festival.

Follow us on Instagram @wilddunedin

There’s nothing quite like the magic of wildlife. The quiet moments, the curious looks, and yes… even the smiles. 📸 @m.axharvey
Aotearoa is a wildlife wonderland! We’ve got 85 native land bird species found nowhere else on Earth, and over 250 bird species in total. From cheeky kea to iconic kiwi, our manu make NZ truly magic. And we’re lucky to have incredible
Waves rolling in, sunshine warming the sand, and a bunch of happy sea puppies turning the shoreline into a playground. Wild moments like this never get old. 📸 Grant Reddington
A beautiful kingfisher, also known as kōtare, photographed in Waldronville. Always a treat to see these colourful taonga up close. 📸 @djk86284
We’re so excited to see everyone heading to the @dunedinbeerfest over the next two days! Wild Dunedin will be there serving up wild venison skewers in fresh sourdough buns with our friend and celebrity chef Angelo Georgalli. We’ll also
Orca duo Danny and Prop were spotted gliding through Dunedin Harbour. They’ve been regular visitors lately, maybe they just wanted to see for themselves why everyone’s calling Dunedin the Wildlife Capital! 📸 @gretta_wallace
Rare, beautiful, and a little wild – that’s Dunedin’s birds (and maybe its people too)