Fairlie is a Mackenzie District town located in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is a service town 48 kilometres from Lake Tekapo whose main economic function is to provide goods for the agricultural area that surrounds it. Its population as of the 2001 census was 723, comprising 375 females and 348 males, marking a 14.4 percent decline in population since 1996.
From 1884 to 1968, the town was served by the Fairlie Branch railway, though until 1934, this branch line actually terminated a kilometre beyond Fairlie in Eversley.
Fairlie is commonly known as the gateway to the Mackenzie Basin. It was first known as Fairlie's Creek and supposedly named because it reminded early settlers of Fairlie in Scotland.
Fairlie hosts the annual Mackenzie District Agricultural and Pastoral show every Easter Monday. The 105th annual show was in 2006.
Being on the tourist highway between Christchurch and Queenstown, tourism is fast becoming a major industry within the town.
