What a year 2020 has been!

We were ready to hit the ground running with a jam packed 20th year here at ILT Stadium Southland but the world had other ideas. We got through our first three events of the year before our country was put into Lockdown on March 25th. This was followed this was a flood of events cancelling and/or postponing to later in 2020 or even into 2021. 

During the lockdown our team were hard at work working with event promoters and doing our own event creation so when the Lockdown was lifted and we all got to come back into the venue on May 14th we were ready to go! 

A year that was always going to be one to remember -"Three Cheers for 20 Years!"

ILT New Year Track Carnival, 17th - 19th January

This popular New Year Track Carnival is designed as another great lead-in event to the National Track Championships. 

Majority of riders are local 

Invercargill City Council, February 26th

We had the pleasure of hosting a full day of team building for the Invercargill City Council staff. Their day consisted of a number of creative and interactive activities which consisted of riding the new E-Bikes from H&J's Smiths, a session with Koha Kai assembling an array of different meals in groups and ending their day with a very thought provoking seminar with presenter Nigel Latta on "Humans Being". 

Vantage Age Group Track National Championships, 5th - 8th March

The Vantage Age Group Track National Championships brings together the champions of tomorrow and some of the leading names from yesteryear as under 15, under 17, and Masters athletes take to the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome to fight it out for national title honours and try to claim the hotly contested Points Shield.

Multicultural Food Festival, March 14th

The Southland Multicultural Council do such a fantastic job of putting this together every year, it is certainly southing our team looks forward to! 

With such a huge range of food from some many different cultures our mouth water just thinking about 2021! 

Tiny Town on Tour, July 6th, 7th & 8th

We were extremly excited to have  ILT Kidzone's Tiny Town in the venue for the first week of the July School Holidays! 

We had over 4000 people come through across the three days and it was awesome! It was great to see parents & kids interacting and playing together.

Definatley a highlight of our year so far!

Love Local Weekend, July 11th & 12th

An idea born out of Lockdown and our first event back! We had over 80 businesses along with 8 local artisits who performed throughout the weekend.

There were stalls selling soaps, to socks, plants and more! Creation Signs was even here wraping a car which was extremly cool to watch!

Pink Ribbon Breakfast, July 30th

We had 62 guests attend and raised over $1000 for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation, a very sucessful morning!

It was a morning of strength, rememberance and celebration as we were educated on a disease that impacts so many people. 

Huge thank you to our incredible guest speakers Vicky Kuresa & Sue Morrison-Bailey who shared their Breast Cancer Journeys with us. 

Thank you also to our ever so bubbly MC Angee Shand and extremly talented performers, Michael Kuresa & Elisapeta Kuresa. 

ANZ Premiership Grand Final, August 23rd

We were very excited to get to host the 2020 ANZ Premiership Grand Final! 

Pre Level 2 covid restrictions all six ANZ Premiership teams were converging on Invercargill for one big day or play offs netball. With restrictions in place however our team worked hard with Netball New Zealand to ensure the final, and an exhibition match could go ahead in front of a small number of invited guests. 

The Te Whananga o Raukawa Central Pulse took out the match 43 - 31 to beat the Good Oil Mainland Tactix and take out the title.

Otago Southland Regional Hip Hop & Aerobics Championships, August 14th - 16th

​​​​​​​We had over 100 athletes from all over Otago & Southland compete across three days. 

The challenge of Level 2 Covid restrictions was put upon us two days before this event was meant to start, but thanks to the hard work of the NCAF team we pulled it off!

We even had some of our current & past staff competing in the Hip Hop Mega Crew category for Jazztime who took our first place! 

We loved having these guys in the venue and hope to collaborate with them again soon!

Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel Double Header Weekend, 7th & 8th August

Our Southern Netball Fans were treated to a weekend filled with live netball, a great constellation prize consider how Covid has impacted on 2020. 

The Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel took on the Northern Mystics on Friday 7th August. What a game and what a crowd! The Steel came through with the win 51 - 47 in their first home game of the year.

The team had a tough ask to back this up the next day against defending champions the Central Pulse but cam out swinging. The final score was  34 - 49 to the Central Pulse. 

We loved having the girls back in the venue along with all the Steel family. Bring on 2021 when we hope to see the venue filled with fans! 

Rock n Roll Regionals, September 12th

It was great to have Rock n Roll back in the venue! 

Fantastic to see so many talented dancers from here in Southland. The music had our toes tapping and the costumes were fabulous! 

Well done to the Invercargill Rock n Roll Club for holding another exceptional event! 

Class of 2020 School Leavers Ball,
September 25th

What a night! We had 230 Year 13 students dance the night away to JETSET. Everyone looked stunning and we are so pleased we were able to pull this together for the Year 13 Leavers, many whos balls had been cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19. 

Huge thankyou to the Band JETSET and the Plants Plus for their outstanding decorating! 

Blindspott, October 3rd

We had over 800 people attend and rock the night away! What a great event to have in the venue to kick off a busy few weeks! 

Southland Home Show, October 3rd & 4th

George put together another exceptional show with a great variety of exhibitors from all around the country! We had over 3000 people come through over the weekend with the exhibitors offering some great deals. We look forward to having it back in the venue on June 19th & 20th next year. 

National Secondary School Track Championships, October 6th & 7th

Great to have the velodrome back in action with the best cyclists from around the country competing against each other! 

​​​​​​​Hop n Vine, October 10th

Another great day out with over 1200 guests attending to try the different craft beers, wines, ciders, food! 

The atmosphere was pumping as was the stage with lots of local talent and everyone up on their feet! 

And we don't have to wait long before the 2021 event - March 27th, mark it in your diaries and we will see you there! 

Miharo Polyfest, November 6th

We were thrilled to have Polyfest back in the venue for 2020 with a shortened one day event featuring over 500 students from various school across Southland!

We can't wait to have the week long Polyfest back in 2021! 

Southern Crafters Market & Southland Brick Show, November 7th & 8th

The Southern Crfters Market was back for the first time this year and is only getting better! The selection of crafters and what they are creating is incredible and perfect timing too with Christmas just around the corner!

We were also very excited to have the Southland Brick Show back in the venue after the major event being cancelled back in May due to Covid-19. This event looked a little different being much smaller but the exhibits where just as inpressive! Bring on May 2021 where the show will be back to full capacity! 

NBL's Schick 3x3 Cup, November 12th-14th

What an incredible three days we had last week with the top ballers from all over the country, playing for the first ever national titles in Men's and Women's 3x3 Basketball.

A massive thank you to all of those involved to make this new event happen and with such success, we are truly grateful for your ongoing support!

The Southland Sharks taking home the win was the icing on the cake!

A huge congratulations also to Auckland Dream for winning the Women's title, what an incredible final that was.

We can't wait to do it all again next year! Keep an eye out for our 2021 dates! 

South Island Secondary School Junior Volleyball Championships,
November 23rd - 25th

We had over 50 teams from all over the South Island converge on the venue for three days of jam packed Volleyball!

With 10 courts set up there were gmes from morning right through the day until early evening. 

It was awesome having Volleyball in the venue and we look forward to hosting this event again soon! 

La Muse Trip The Light Fantastic,
​​​​​​​November 29th

Over 500 dance students from La Muse Dance Studio took to the stage for their end of year extravaganza. 

The two shows were pretty much sold out and the talent on stage was second to none!

We look forward to having La Muse back in the venue for 2022! 

Waihopai City Lions Southland Christmas Tree Festival, December 1st - 23rd

We were excited to again partner up with the Waihopai City Lions for this event. 

We had 38 entries from ifferent businesses and community groups which is more than ever before! The standard of tree also lifted again with some very impressive decorations! 

A record amount of $4,815.30 was raised by the festival and will be split between the winning trees charities! 

1st - GWD Motor Group (Heart Kids Southland)
2nd - La Muse (Hospice Southland)
3rd - Mitre 10 Mega Invercargill (NZ Police Dog Trust)

Special thank you to the ILT Foundation and Community Trust South for their ongoing support! 

If you would like to get involved in the 2021 festival please get in touch with
​​​​​​​alex.morrison-bailey@stadiumsouth.co.nz 

​​​​​​​Southland Track Champs, December 4th - 6th

Another great track carnival showcasing the local talent in our SIT Velodrome!

Merry Little Christmas Concert,
​​​​​​​December 22nd

This is the second time we have run the Merry Little Christmas Concert and it was even better than 2019! 

We had over 1000 people attend both from daycares and the public for a memorable morning. We even had guest appearances from Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and The Stadium Wiggles!

We can't wait to do it all again on December 20th 2021!

ILT Christmas Variety Show, 
​​​​​​​December 23rd

Our 2020 show was another sell out!

It was the largest cast we have ever had with over 200 talented locals giving up their time to be in our 20th Celebration Show.

We are locked an loaded for our 2021 how and can't wait to see you there - December 21st!