Opera in the Park in taking place in Nelson's Trafalgar Park. Photo: RNZ/Tracy Neal
The symphony returns to Nelson tonight, with the first Opera in the Park event in three years.
The biennial event in Nelson's Trafalgar Park is one of the biggest on the city's events calendar and is a unique mix of classical and contemporary music.
Stan Walker, Annie Crummer and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra will perform at this year's event on Saturday.
It is also the first time Nelson City Council has held a carbon-neutral event.
Nelson City Council's senior climate change adviser Daniela Ramirez said it had been a lot of work to calculate the emissions but she hoped it could be used as a template for future carbon neutral events in Nelson and beyond.
"We wanted to walk the talk and lead with this work and ideally, we would love to show all our other event organisers how we did it and how they can do it and provide emission reduction initiatives."
The biggest proportion of carbon emissions were the flights to bring performers into the city (46 percent), followed by the local transport options taken by those travelling to the event (39 percent), then food (11 percent).
The event is also zero-waste, with all food waste collected and composted and reusable plates and cutlery will be provided, with a wash station at the event.
Carbon credits had been purchased locally from an indigenous forest regeneration project in Golden Bay and internationally to support solar power projects in developing countries.
Ramirez said the final emissions will be assessed after the event, with further credits bought if needed to offset the emissions.