The Southern Festival of Speed was a classic and historic racing series held in the South Island in New Zealand. It was started in the late 1980s with the revival of the 1950s Dunedin Street Circuit. It comprised rounds at three permanent circuits and one temporary Dunedin's circuit. It was organised with assistance from various local car clubs that included the Otago Sports Car Club.
The South Island, also officially named Te Waipounamu, is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area; the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, and to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean. The South Island covers 150,437 square kilometres (58,084 sq mi), making it the world's 12th-largest island. It has a temperate climate.
New Zealand is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses—the North Island, and the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands. It has a total land area of 268,000 square kilometres (103,500 sq mi). New Zealand is situated some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long period of isolation, New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal, fungal, and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.
Dunedin Street Circuit is a temporary street circuit for classic and club racers following some of Dunedin's 1950s street circuit. It is situated at the southern end of Dunedin's city centre, some 1500 metres south of The Octagon. The 2.9km circuit is a combination of flat and gently hilly sections, the circuit uses several of Dunedin's main streets, including the Dunedin Southern Motorway extension along the southern edge of the Oval sports grounds and the southern end of Princes Street. The highest point on the circuit is a winding hill section at the southwestern end of the course, which immediately follows a sharp hairpin bend at the end of the motorway extension. This section initially climbs then drops down to a flat section which includes Princes Street and which runs along two sides of the Oval, before again meeting the motorway extension.
