Forbury Park Raceway is at 146 Victoria Road, St Kilda, in coastal South Dunedin. It is a former harness racing venue whose buildings are now offered as an event and function facility, with bookings and catering handled by Dunedin caterer Just Essence.
The site was developed as a racecourse in 1870 on reclaimed swamp, with a one-mile track leased to the Dunedin Jockey Club. It was used for galloping and saddle trotting until 1898, when the Dunedin Jockey Club moved to Wingatui near Mosgiel. Light harness racing began at Forbury in 1909, at around which time the track was reduced to roughly 1,000 metres. The installation of floodlights in 1960 brought night trotting to the venue, and Forbury Park was the first South Island club to hold a night trotting fixture, on 26 January 1961.
In 1965 the club built a new members' stand and hosted the Inter Dominion series — the only time the series has been held in New Zealand outside Auckland or Christchurch. Forbury Park also hosted the New Zealand Long Track motorcycle speedway championship seven times between 1982 and 1988. The Forbury Park Trotting Club marked 100 years of harness racing at the track with a meeting on 26 November 2009.
In February 2021 the club announced plans to sell the racetrack and relocate, and the final race meeting was held on 8 July 2021. The roughly 12-hectare site was subsequently purchased by the Dunedin City Council for $13.2 million. Its long-term future is still being considered as part of wider South Dunedin planning, so organisers booking well in advance should confirm availability directly.
Just Essence markets Forbury Park as a unique event facility with three function rooms and free parking for more than 300 vehicles. An extensive à la carte menu is available, and the caterer publishes buffet and set-menu packages:
Minimums apply: 20 people for the set menu and 40 people for the buffet. Carvery, salad, main and dessert selections are published for each package.
No audiovisual inventory or individual room capacities are published for the venue, so these should be confirmed at enquiry.
Forbury Park suits conferences, seminars, awards nights, gala dinners, club functions and large social events where generous free on-site parking and a self-contained site away from the CBD are useful. With three function rooms it can run a main session alongside breakouts or a separate catering space. Given that racing has ceased and the site is council-owned pending decisions on its future, confirm current availability and room specifications before committing to a date. Browse more Dunedin venues.
Capacity
Nearby listings on the MICE record — indicative only, not a recommendation unless marked Featured.