11/06/2026
Awesome to help host Riverton Retro Revival for Kings Birthday Weekend 🎂
The first-ever Riverton Retro Revival transformed historic Palmerston Street over King's Birthday weekend, bringing together pop-up shops, vintage treasures, music, food, storytelling and community spirit across seven different venues throughout town.
Visitors arrived from throughout Southland and beyond, bringing family and friends to experience Riverton at its nostalgic best.
On one of the sunniest and warmest days of the year, Palmerston Street was packed with people enjoying the lively atmosphere, exploring the retro trail, discovering hidden treasures and sharing stories of days gone by.
The organisers extend heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make the inaugural event such a success.
Special thanks go to the local businesses that opened their doors on a public holiday and embraced the event with enthusiasm, creating stunning displays and warmly welcoming visitors into town.
We especially acknowledge the Riverton Community Op Shop for the enormous effort they put in, the Riverton Community Market organisers and stallholders for creating a vibrant market atmosphere, and the Southland Environment Centre for their display and contribution to the day.
Thanks also to Hammer Hardware for hosting the colouring competition, and to all the children who entered and brightened our day with their creative interpretations of Riverton, Aparima through their wonderful artwork.
We wish to thank Earthware for keeping the atmosphere lively with music and for hosting local performers, the RSA for opening its doors to local and visiting stallholders, and St John’s Ambulance for providing a welcoming lounge space.
A huge thank you goes to our hospitality venues — The Postmasters Tearooms, The Waterfront Café, The Crib Café and especially 102 Café, which kept people well fed and caffeinated from morning through evening.
Special appreciation also goes to our food vendors and food trucks, with a particular mention to Mr Whippy for bringing back happy childhood memories. It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying ice creams on the first day of winter.
The barbecue proved a runaway success, with more than 80 kilograms of venison sausages sold. Raising funds for the Riverton Pēpi Playgroup. Enormous thanks to John, Hayden, Daisy, Alice and Enoch for feeding the hundreds of hungry visitors who came through town.
Special gratitude goes to Bert, whose incredible effort sewing more than 150 metres of bunting brought colour and celebration to Palmerston Street and helped create the event's distinctive atmosphere.
We also thank all the locals who dressed up, came into town and shared their stories and memories. The nostalgia and sense of connection created by those conversations became one of the most meaningful parts of the day.
Thanks to the Riverton Fire Brigade for their vintage fire engine display and to everyone who arrived in classic cars, adding another wonderful layer of retro charm. And we are still wondering — who was the gentleman driving the little black car with the penny-farthing bicycle on the back?
Thanks to our local police for their support, to our supermarket for helping keep the town buzzing, and to everyone who helped visitors enjoy everything Riverton has to offer — from the museum and beaches to the waterfront and beyond.
Finally, enormous thanks go to the organisers and volunteers whose creativity, vision and passion for celebrating historic Riverton and all things retro helped bring this idea to life.
The first Riverton Retro Revival was an enormous success — and this is only the beginning. What will they Revive next?
We'll be back next year with even more retro fun, more community involvement, and more reasons to park the car and follow the bunting.
